Up to Fate
by ReginaMillsLocksley
Summary: A thief named Robin Hood rescues the Evil Queen from angry knights trying to execute her. Prophesied that Regina would fall in love with the man with the lion tattoo, she finds herself easily captivated by the thief who saved her life. An Outlaw Queen fanfiction.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So after writing a little bit of my fanfic of Storybrooke Robin/Regina I decided to try an Enchanted Forest version. So, with that, here we go.**

* * *

The sound of angered yelling and screams of pain tore the hooded figure's attention away from his hunt. Bow knocked and ready, figuring the sounds were coming for him, he ducked behind a bush, watching through the overgrown foliage.

What he saw surprised him. Apparently, he had wondered too far chasing that deer. He realized that now he stood on royal ground. A large, black castle rose up from the surrounding trees, spiked on the top. The man knew this castle—it had once belonged to the Evil Queen but was now run by Prince Charming and Princess Snow White ever since the curse had struck that brought all fairy tale characters back home. Through the bushes he could see a group of knights who were all riled up and drunk, upset about something.

_Crack!_

There was the sound of a whip, and shortly after, a woman's cry. The man gritted his teeth together, wincing at the sound and peered closer. Between two knight's shoulders, he could see the woman.

She was tied to a stake, bound by tight ropes. Her black hair was pulled back into a messy pony tail that reached the middle of her back. She wore a simple wool dress. It was white and the man could see several blood stains. Her face was scrunched up in pain, several welts, bruises, and gashes covering her forehead, cheeks, and neck. The way she held herself against the rope, as if she was trying to double over made the man wonder if she had been punched or kicked in the abdomen area. The whip rose again and she was struck hard with it, across the chest. Again, on the arms, the legs, and then the back. Each time, she let out an agonizing shriek.

He had to do something. He had to save this poor woman. Nobody deserved what she got no matter what she had done. How low had the prince and princess stooped to allow such a horrible thing to happen? This is something the Queen would have issued, but not her stepdaughter and her husband.

Crawling stealthily through the bushes, the man drew closer. He now stood to the side, positioned until he could get a good view of the woman and the knights.

"The Evil Queen isn't so tough now, is she fellas?" cried one voice as a knight stepped up to grab the woman by the jaw and spit in her face. She cringed, kicking and thrashing, gritting her teeth as such movement sent sharp pains throughout her body.

The man froze. He was about to rescue the Evil Queen? He still couldn't believe that the prince and princess had issued this sort of a thing. They had tried executing the Queen once before but Snow White had stopped it and ordered her stepmother's release. Surely they wouldn't go through with this.

But he was also beginning to question whether or not to save this cruel woman. She had murdered so many people, taken advantage of so many lives, lied and cheated and stole to get what she wanted all for the sake of revenge—ruining Snow White's happiness. All of which had failed, if the rumors were true. Why should he save her?

He looked up at the Queen again, strapped down to a pole, at the complete mercy of these knights. She was beginning to lose consciousness, he could tell, and she had lost so much blood. Her head lolled to one side, resting against her shoulder. There was a look of desperation and despair in her eyes. He saw no evil there. Only a lost woman who would never live to find what she was looking for.

He had to save her.

Before he stepped out of the bushes, another knight strolled up to the first. "Hurry and let's be done with it so we can get rid of the body before the prince and princess find out."

The man's eyebrows rose. So this was not an authorized execution? Now he really did have to save the Queen, the woman who had wanted him dead for so many years.

He stepped out of the bushes just as an archer raised his bow, arrow aimed for the Queen's heart. Just as he released it, the man intercepted the first arrow with one of his own, splitting it in half, and sending it right back into the archer's heart. The knight stumbled backwards and fell to the ground unmoving. The other knights looked up at him.

"Who do you think you are? Remove your hood, you coward, and look upon us!" a voice yelled.

The man lifted away his hood to reveal his face. The knights all gasped. "Robin Hood!" another exclaimed.

"Get out of the way, thief! We have a job to finish," hissed a third.

Robin Hood kept his bow raised, and the men drew their swords. "I'm not going anywhere. I heard one of your men saying that this was not an execution approved by the prince and princess, done in secret. I don't think Charming or Snow White would approve of the killing of the Evil Queen."

"Why not? She's tried to kill them for as long as we can remember anyways," said a younger knight.

Robin glared at the men. "But each time she has failed. I think you guys have taught her a well earned lesson. Let her go."

"Seize him!" shouted a commanding voice and knights rushed forward to greet Robin.

Adrenaline rushing through him, the thief drew a sword, throwing his bow down. He met two men as soon as his sword was out of its' sheathe. He brought it down on the first man's shoulder instantaneously, causing the wounded knight to groan with pain and drop his sword. Robin then stuck his sword through his soft belly, cringing as blood splattered his clothing. The second knight rushed at Robin then, but with a quick swipe, he caught the man on the back and sent him sprawling, moaning over his wounds.

The other knights stared in astonishment and began backing away despite the orders being yelled by their commander.

"Who's next?" Robin taunted.

Everyone dashed off just then, leaving the commander by himself. Anger flaring in his face, the knight turned after his legion, already barking out punishments to those who fled. Robin picked up his bow and turned towards the Queen who was panting heavily, bleeding from her wounds. He tied her down from the stake and carried her bridal style towards his horse who awaited not so far away, running as fast as he could without injuring the Queen even further.

Reaching his horse, he hung the woman over its strong shoulders, hopped on, and hurried off to get her the medical attention she so badly needed.

His home was vacant when Robin arrived. His son was staying with Little John and so he had the place to himself. He kicked his door open to avoid dropping the Queen who was now unconscious in his arms and hurriedly laid her down in his own bed, not knowing where else to put her. Looked like he'd be on the couch that night.

Robin grabbed a rag and wetted it, and also took some herbs as well to help the woman. He dashed back into the Queen, unconscious on the bed and rested the rag on her forehead. The coolness on her skin made her flinch, but she didn't come out of her sleep. Robin let it rest on her head while he gently tugged the loose woolen dress off of her body. It left her exposed but he wasn't in the mood for eying a naked girl at the moment. His first priority was to make sure she survived the night.

The thief mashed up his herbs into a salve, applying it to each cut and scrape after thoroughly cleaning the blood away with the rag. He could do nothing about the bruises from where she had been punched, and left them be to heal on their own. Once he was finished, he pulled the sheets up over her bare body and departed from the room, closing the door behind him.

Robin looked outside to see that the sky was darkening. He pulled out a blanket and made his bed on the couch as comfortable as he could. This was going to be a long night.


	2. Chapter 2

Waking up was perhaps the dumbest decision she'd made in her entire life. As soon as her eyes opened a powerful and sharp pain took over her body and her breath caught in her throat. Regina found herself cringing so hard, tears trickled smoothly out of her eyes.

She looked around her blindly after overcoming the moment of shock, reaching a hand up to wipe away her tears. Where was she? Everything seemed so foreign. To her, it seemed as if she was in a peasant's house, but how could a meek villager save her from a squad of trained knights? Regina sat up, her entire body protesting but as soon as the cool air touched her bare skin and she realized she was without clothes, she gasped and buried herself in the covers again.

_Oh my. Where am I? _Her eyes wondered around wildly, but no sense of familiarity seemed to strike. A panic swept over Regina, hugging her tightly in its cool clutches. She shivered, looking around for anything that could be used as clothing.

There!

The Queen saw that, draped over a chair, was a peasant's outfit. It was a simple brown dress and even darker brown cloak. There seemed to be undergarments too. Whoever she was with had gone to the trouble of making sure she had clothes.

But then, hadn't she been wearing something before she'd been saved? It had been a simple cover up she'd been forced to wear by those cruel knights, but it was nowhere in sight, which left Regina a little worried. Still, she gratefully pulled on the clothes laid out for her. She'd never been in an outfit so simple. Growing up as a royal, then a queen, then the mayor of Storybrooke, and then a queen again hadn't left room for simple clothing.

Regina noted that the clothes were actually quite comfortable and made out of simple fabric. They actually felt better than the clothes she'd been wearing all her life.

Now that Regina had covered herself, she found that she had a mirror in her room and checked her appearance. Her hair was tied back in a messy pony tail, which she would have to fix, but what really made her stare at herself longer were the bruises and cuts along her face. Her stomach churned. She had bruises on the sides of her face, some near her eyes. There was a hand print on her cheek, little bruises along her jaw line, and a cut on her bottom lip. Her chest and neck were raw as if she'd been hit with a whip. Which she had, she recalled instantly.

Regina had found that she'd never looked quite so terrible. She almost wanted to cry about the way she looked, but she knew that crying would only make her look worse, and so she bit back her tears. Instead, with shaking fingers, she pulled her hair out of her pony tail and found a brush on the dresser. She groomed her black locks of hair until each one was free of tangles. Then, she pushed her hair away from her neck so that it hung in a flowing, loose manner down her back.

Now it was time for answers. Regina hugged the cloak tight to her bruised body and stiffly took a step towards the door, scared of what she would find. She didn't know what she was anticipating and she had no idea if she was alone in this place. Being left in a bed naked kept her wondering what had taken place when she had fallen unconscious and had supposedly been saved.

A hand reached out and slowly pulled back the door. It made a small creaking noise, which made Regina grit her teeth. It pulled open further and she found herself looking into another wing of the house. It was small with dirt floors. There was a fire going in a fireplace and there was a small stove, a table with four chairs around it, a fur rug, and a couch. On that couch was a man, curled up under a wool blanket.

Regina gasped and stepped backwards, stumbling over something on the floor. She grabbed the doorframe for support and lifted herself up as her body protested against the sudden, jerky movements. Her wrestling around had jarred the man from his sleep. He sat straight up and looked right at Regina. He seemed to shield his eyes for a moment, until he saw she was wearing clothing and he took his hands away from his eyes.

"Sorry, milady," he said in an astounded voice. Regina just stood, feeling vulnerable as she braced herself against the doorframe. It was obvious she was injured. "There's no need to be frightened."

"I'm not frightened," Regina shot back immediately, her voice a lot more bitter than she would have intended. His face looked familiar, though, she had to admit. "Who are you?"

The man flashed Regina a big smile. "Robin of Locksley. Most people just call me Robin Hood. The rude ones prefer to call me 'the thief'."

Ah, she had wanted this man dead for so long. He'd stolen countless times from her castle, and even from her carriage. He had saved her? Or had he stolen from her? Regina certainly hoped he wasn't the one who had stripped her of her clothing because…She shook the thought away, already feeling her cheeks heat up.

"I'm—"

He cut off her introduction by holding up a finger. "I know who you are, Your Majesty. Regina, the Evil Queen."

Her face fell. She had hoped she had dropped the _evil _reputation before she and the others had returned to the Enchanted Forest. After all, if it wasn't for her, Peter Pan's curse would have taken a more damaging toll on everyone sent home. It seemed, though, that her moniker still stood.

"Yes," she replied and hung her head.

Robin got up from the couch and draped the blanket over the back of it. "You got beat up pretty bad, milady. Those knights have some serious bloodlust in them."

Regina hugged her cloak tighter against her body, only now really daring to study the man as he approached, stopping a good few feet away. He was tall and very muscular. He had sand-colored hair, dark blue eyes, and stubble along his cheeks and chin. Regina found herself subconsciously saying that he was very handsome. Inside of her head, she mentally scolded herself for thinking such thoughts.

The Queen nodded. "I..." she trailed off, wondering how she could approach the subject of how she was still alive. "Who saved me?"

Robin looked around the room as if this was an obvious answer, which it was. "Why, me of course. Do you see anyone else here?" he asked.

Regina shook her head and couldn't help but feel her whole body burn of embarrassment. So he had been the one to leave her without clothing? The Queen almost wanted to cry. She wanted to smack this man. She wanted to run and hide. That thought alone completely insulted her. She bit back her emotions though, because sooner or later she figured he'd guess what she was thinking. After a moment, she finally trusted herself to speak. "Thank you."

"No need to thank me, Your Majesty. I couldn't let them just kill an innocent, especially without the prince and princess's consent," he replied.

When he reached out and grabbed Regina's arm, she felt herself flinch, partly because his hand wrapped around a sore spot and partly because she wasn't sure she trusted this thief. But all he did was guide her to the couch. She sat down, wincing as her entire body protested once more.

"I think 'innocent' is an overstatement. I'm no better than those knights. In fact, I'm probably worse. They don't call me the Evil Queen for nothing, anyways," Regina said. Robin looked at her sympathetically and then his gaze hardened a bit, as if he was assessing her. Then he turned around and headed towards the stove, which he turned on and began to heat up something.

"I'm not exactly innocent either, Your Majesty. I'm a thief, you know," Robin said. A minute later he returned with warm bread and butter, along with a glass of water for Regina. She took it gratefully. "I figured you might be hungry."

She hadn't realized it before but as she took a bite of the buttery bread, she noted that she was, indeed, famished. Regina tried to eat slowly but the bread and water were gone within seconds. "I guess I was," she said, earning a small chuckle from Robin. "How long was I out?"

"Two days and three nights. To be honest, I wasn't sure if you were ever going to wake up," the thief replied. "You had a really bad fever and I think a few of your cuts from the whip got infected. I cleaned them up as best I could and I think they're fine now."

Why was she so upset about this man seeing her completely uncovered? After all, she was the Queen who strolled around on a daily basis with half of her breasts popping out of a low-cut gown, which was usually pretty form fitting. Regina tried her best to drown the feeling, but it kept resurfacing.

"Thank you, again. You know, you're probably one of the only people who would ever take the time to actually help me," she eventually found herself saying, and the more she thought about it was true. The only people who would probably help Regina out of the kindness of their heart would have been Snow White, and maybe Prince Charming. She still wasn't sure how he felt about her. It was reassuring to find that someone else would be there for her to lean on.

Robin sighed. He obviously wasn't going to rid himself of the Queen's gratitude. "You're welcome."

A sudden bout of tiredness swept over Regina and it began to feel cold. She hugged the cloak up tight against her, tighter than before. If that was possible. "Is it cold in here?" she asked.

Robin thought a moment and then shook his head. His hand reached up and brushed against Regina's forehead and then each cheek. "Your fever is back, Your Majesty," he said with a frown, worry flooding his gaze.

Regina shivered, despite herself. She felt like a butterfly that had broken its wings. Vulnerable and at the complete mercy of someone else. That thought unsettled her.

"We should get you back to bed," Robin said and gently guided the Queen back into the bedroom, where she gratefully flopped into the bed and melted under the covers.

Robin put a hand on her shoulder. "You call if you need anything. Alright?"

"Alright."

As he turned to leave, Regina felt her eyelids grow heavy and sleep swept over her.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, Robin rolled away from his spot on the couch, stretching out his arms to work out the unpleasant kinks in his back. Sleeping on the couch for the past few days certainly didn't feel good, but the Queen was still recovering and he wasn't going to be so rude as to bump her out on the couch anytime soon.

Knowing he had to check on Regina and make sure her fever had gone down, he quietly slipped into the bedroom. The Queen had the same outfit on that he'd left her in, thankfully, but she had taken the cloak off and had discarded it on the floor. Robin picked it up and draped it back over the chair.

Regina looked so peaceful when she slept, and if Robin had to admit it, beautiful. Well, she was beautiful when awake too, but so sad. He could see right under that façade into the dread that filled her heart. She slept her gorgeous black hair spilled out around her face in waves. A small smile set on her generous lips. When she slept, Robin had noticed that it when she looked happiest.

Leaning over her, Robin put a gentle hand on her forehead. It was warm, but body temperature. Her cheeks said the same. Thankfully, the fever had gone down, at least for the moment. He stood a moment, staring into that beautiful face. Before even thinking about it, he reached down and brushed his lips against Regina's forehead.

As soon as he pulled away, the Queen's dark eyes opened and she stared up at him with a scowl. "What are you doing?" she asked.

Robin felt mortified, trying to come up with an excuse for his rash decision to kiss the Queen's forehead. "I was just making sure your fever was gone, milady," he said quickly.

Regina gazed at him a moment longer before sitting up in bed. She slowly climbed out and grabbed the cloak, wrapping it around her and tying it at the neck. She hugged it to her body. Robin wondered where the sense of extreme modesty had come from, and then he remembered that she probably had woken up without clothes. Perhaps she was making a statement to him, showing how much she did not appreciate him unknowingly undressing her.

_You'd be dead if I didn't, Your Majesty, _he thought and found himself biting his tongue to keep from saying it aloud.

Robin realized he'd been staring at Regina because she gave him a meaningful look. He averted his eyes and stepped out of the room. "I'll whip up something for you to eat," he said.

* * *

Regina had woken up, sure she had felt his lips on her head. But he'd claimed he had just been checking for a fever. Still, she could not get the sensation of his skin against hers from her mind, nor the way his eyes had borne into hers when she'd put her cloak on.

_Why? _The simple question kept going through her mind about a lot of things. Why was she so embarrassed about him saving her? Why did her breath catch in her throat every time he looked at her? Why did she long for his eyes to meet hers? Why did she care whether he'd been checking her fever or kissing her forehead?

_Snap out of it, _she told herself. Regina found that there was a tub in the corner of the room, filled with water. Closing the bedroom door, she gratefully slipped off her clothes and slid inside. She knew she needed a bath and so she scrubbed down accordingly, pleased with the clean feeling that buzzed through her veins as she got out, dried off, and changed again.

After drying off, she used the brush on the dresser to re-comb her hair, picking out a few tangles that had gathered the previous night. Her strokes were hard and flustered. Eventually she put the brush down and let her hair be, giving one cursory yet satisfying check in the mirror before exiting the bedroom and heading over to sit on the couch.

Robin glanced back at her for a moment but quickly turned back to whatever he was doing. When he returned, he was carrying a wooden plate with bread and cornmeal. He also had another glass of water. Regina was glad for the bland food. She wasn't sure her stomach could handle much else. She ate the food gratefully as Robin went to fetch himself a plate.

After the two of them had eaten, Robin checked once more that Regina didn't have a fever. When he shook his head, confirming that she was all right, he looked her up and down a moment. Regina wanted to squirm underneath his gaze but forced herself to remain still and look up expectantly at him.

"Your Majesty," Robin said after a moment, "it's a beautiful day and I'm sure you miss seeing the sun. Why don't we take a walk through the forest. We can turn back if you find yourself to weak to continue very far."

Despite the fact that Regina wasn't sure of her feelings about this man—whether or not to trust him—she did agree that a walk sounded nice and refreshing; she was probably in need of a little sun. "Alright," she consented.

The Queen got to her feet and Robin supplied her with a pair of woman's boots. Regina wondered where he'd gotten all of this women's clothing, but then reminded herself that he was a thief. He'd probably stolen it from someone in a nearby village. She slipped on the boots and Robin led her out the door.

* * *

The walk was nice and refreshing, and Robin knew that the Queen appreciated finally being let out of the house. After all, she'd been cooped up inside for almost four days, sick with a fever and in pain from wounds. Regina seemed to be holding up pretty well though, and he hoped that they'd seen the last of the fever. Her wounds were beginning to disappear as well.

Robin led the Queen at a slow pace, being sure that he didn't travel too fast. She walked slowly and he supposed that was because she still had a few sore spots. The forest was quiet and shaded from the majority of the sun's heat, but what leaked onto the forest floor was inviting. The birds sang in the trees and the wind played a soft song through the leafed canopies. It was peaceful, a beautiful time to take a walk.

The thief did notice that the Queen wasn't really one to strike up a conversation. In fact, she seemed sort of shy, which really surprised him. For as long as he'd known of her, he'd always gotten the notion that she liked to take charge. After all, evil people didn't really have the tendencies to be timid, but then again, Regina didn't seem all too evil to him.

Looking over at her, walking close to his side, Robin noticed that she seemed okay with not talking. There was a small smile playing across her lips as her eyes wondered through the greenery of the forest. She walked with her hands clasped in front of her and she had the gait of a royal, head high, shoulders straight, posture perfect. The Queen, it seemed, was enjoying herself.

And Robin was enjoying her company. It was quite lonely and the presence of a beautiful woman always thrilled him, this one in more ways than one. There was something special about the Queen, who walked in a regal manner, yet seemed so shy and untouchable. Who's hair blew gently in the breeze, who seemed so utterly lost and sad yet contented at the same time. Robin found himself transfixed by this woman.

Regina turned to look at him and he realized that he must've been staring once more. He offered her a lopsided smile and at this, her small one grew, but only slightly, and then it was gone. A ghost of a smile. Sadness settled in her dark eyes like a void. What was this woman's history? Why was she so lost? And why did he feel this sudden impulse to just hold her close and kiss all her sadness away?

_Robin you are losing your mind. Turn around and focus on walking. And breathing. I think you…I am getting a little light-headed. _With that he turned back around, drew in a breath of air, and focused on the trees. Out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed Regina glancing at him a moment longer before doing the same thing.

* * *

Regina could have stared into those eyes forever, those deep blue eyes full of curiosity and wonder. It was like Robin had fallen under some sort of spell when he looked at Regina and she knew it, but when she returned his gaze, it was like she had fallen under some spell of his.

What was going on? Why was she feeling this way towards a man she had just met? To a thief? Someone she had wanted dead for years. Someone who had committed theft against her yet now was taking the time to be her friend.

Perhaps that's why Regina found such an attraction to this man. He was taking the time to actually do something for her, something she could never return. He'd saved her life and not only that but he was being so genuine about it, so kind. He didn't hold a grudge against her because she was the Evil Queen and more importantly, because his reasons were a bit more personal, she had wanted him dead. Regina couldn't even fathom why she had wanted to kill this man now. He had stolen but for the cause of helping others, and now he was helping her.

Eventually, once they reached a clearing, Robin stopped and turned to Regina. "Are you tired?" he asked.

Now that he mentioned it, her legs suddenly felt like lead, heavy and cumbersome. She held back a yawn and gave a small nod. "A little."

Robin placed a hand on the small of her back, causing shiver to run up and down her spine. He led her to the base of a large tree and sat down, Regina following in suit. "We can rest here for a few minutes, and then we'll head back."

And rest she did. Regina leaned her head back against the tree, closing her eyes as Robin's warmth loomed close to her. She became aware of his shoulder pressed up against hers, too aware, she realized and she opened her eyes to focus on her hands. Her thumbs twiddled in her lap.

"You know, for an Evil Queen, you seem awfully shy," Robin said after a moment.

Regina turned to look upon him, to see that smile on his face. Was she acting shy? The Queen was certainly _not _shy. Anything but that. "I'm not shy," she responded indignantly. "I just don't have much to say."

"And why is that?" Robin asked playfully.

The Queen shrugged her shoulders. "Well, I have been sick and injured for a few days, you know. But I've never been the talkative type."

Robin sighed at this and his gaze never left Regina's. No matter how badly she wanted to just turn away, she found it nearly impossible. Eventually she got her neck to work and she turned back to stare at her hands. For some reason, Robin's presence seemed to loom closer.

Maybe she was being shy. After all, she still found herself to be embarrassed about everything. Regina wasn't the type to be saved…she wasn't the type to fall in love, yet both things seemed to be accomplished.

At this, Regina started. Had she really just told herself she was falling in love with this man? She looked over at him again, but before she could draw her gaze up to his eyes, something caught her attention. There, on his forearm. Ink. A tattoo.

Regina almost gasped out loud. Almost, but she didn't. Because it was not just any tattoo.

It was the lion tattoo.

* * *

**A/N: I had to make her see the tattoo, I couldn't resist!**

**So, what do you guys think will happen now?**


	4. Chapter 4

That had to be why Regina felt such an attraction to this man. Tinkerbelle, many years ago, had prophesied that Regina and a man with a lion tattoo on his forearm were true loves. She had told Regina to go into a tavern and meet him, but Regina had cowered away and had run home to the torturous life in the castle, her want for revenge too strong to allow love in her life.

But it seemed as if Tinkerbelle's prophecy had reached Regina anyhow, all these years later when she had almost forgotten about the man deemed her _other _true love. Until now. Until he was right in front of her nose. In fact, all of these years that was where he had been. She'd wanted him dead for a long time, and now here the Man with the Lion Tattoo was. Her savior. The man who had saved her life was her true love.

Regina wanted to accept that, but she couldn't. She had lost so much in life and had gained nothing. She remembered the words that Rumplestiltskin had told Peter Pan before the both of them had died. _Villains don't get happy endings, _he had said. That had never struck Regina until now.

Everyone Regina had ever loved had been taken away. Her parents were gone, Daniel was gone, Henry was living in the Land Without Magic, cursed memories clouding him from his real ones. Her adopted son didn't even know she existed. Regina almost doubled over in tears with those thoughts and actually felt a few run down her cheeks.

"Regina?" Robin's voice boomed through her thoughts like a clap of thunder and she flinched, despite herself. "Are you okay?"

No matter how badly she wanted to shake off his questions, Regina's head shook. "No. I'm not. I was just thinking about everything I've lost…sorry, I just…I kind of get a little emotional about it sometimes." She buried her head in her hands so that Robin wouldn't see the tears.

Regina felt her body freeze and her muscles tense up when she felt two strong arms wrap around her and pull her close. Robin's body was pressed right against hers and Regina found herself crying into his shoulder.

Years of holding back the tears seemed to melt. It was as if there was a mental dam that just seemed to collapse and every ounce of sadness just flowed out. Regina found sobs wracking her body, tears running uncontrollably down her cheeks. Robin's arms wrapped tighter around her, reminding her that he was there.

* * *

He had never imagined that the Queen would break down so easily, especially right in front of him. One moment she had seemed fine and the next, she was in his arms, crying. Robin held her body close to his, feeling her pain each time her slender body shivered with another sob. He rubbed her back with his hand and ran his fingers through her soft hair.

Maybe he should have given in to that impulse while they were walking to kiss her sadness away, because now, here they were, crumpled on the forest floor. The Queen was pouring out years of sadness right here, into him. His heart broke for her. She hadn't explained what was happening, really, yet Robin could already sense her great burden that had rested on her for a very long time.

How terrible!

Robin cradled the Queen in his arms, letting out a breath of relief as she finally seemed to stop crying. She didn't move, other than to finally accept his embrace and wrap her arms around his neck. Her head stayed buried in her shoulder and her fragile body continued to quiver every once in a while. Robin held her still. He never wanted to let go of this poor woman. She needed held forever. She needed someone there to make sure she was okay, and most importantly, happy.

After a moment, the shaking stopped and Regina was perfectly still other than the slight rise and fall of her chest, which he could feel against him. Robin continued to run his fingers along her back and through her hair, all comforting motions. Eventually, the Queen pulled away and turned to wipe her eyes so that Robin couldn't see the pain on her face. Then she turned back around to face him.

The sadness he'd seen in her before was nothing compared to now. She was so broken, so terribly battered, and not just physically. Robin could tell that the Evil Queen had a reason for being evil. She had a perfectly valid reason, without even being told, he knew this.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked softly, reaching out and grabbing her small hands in his own. Her fingers were cold yet their touch brought a warmth to him nonetheless.

Regina closed her eyes for a moment, mulling over his question before nodding her head slowly. "It…you can try to follow along as best you can. It's a long story."

Robin listened intently as Regina told him of her childhood with an unloving mother and a father too scared to stand up to the cruel woman. She told him of Daniel, the stable boy who she had loved so much. She talked about how he had died, how she had told Snow White not to tell her mother, Cora, about Daniel, and how she had done so anyways to save the relationship there between mother and daughter. Robin understood that Cora had ripped out Daniel's heart and crushed it right there in front of poor Regina. He understood her hate for Snow White, but she assured him that she was finished trying to get her revenge. It had not succeeded, and she confessed that she and Snow were sort of friends now.

She then explained the curse that had ripped away two-thirds of the Enchanted Forest. She talked of her adopted son, Henry, who she had raised since he was three weeks to ten years and how his mother, Emma, came back and eventually broke the curse. She shared everything that had happened in Storybrooke from then on, and then explained how the two-thirds of the Enchanted Forest had been brought back from Storybrooke, and how the curse had not allowed for her son or his mother to return home.

He understood everything, maybe not on her level, but to a point. Robin then told Regina about his deceased wife, Marian, and their son, Roland. He explained how his son was the only piece of his wife that he had left. He even worked up the nerve to tell Regina that she'd been wearing his wife's clothes. At that moment she had insisted on changing into something of her own, but Robin insisted that she did not have to, and so, she had finally given in. Robin also was pleased that Regina had expressed an interest in meeting Roland, and he told her that once she felt good enough and was strong enough, he'd let his son come for a visit.

"Alright, Your Majesty, it's getting late. We should probably return home." Robin got to his feet and extended his hand for Regina, which she took and the two started home again.

* * *

Regina couldn't believe she'd just poured out her entire story to the thief. She'd told no one her past before, partly because the only people she would have told were either dead or they had experienced her past with her but also this was because she had never let anyone in.

_So that's what you've done, Regina? You've let Robin "in". _She shook her head as they kept walking and she pressed close to the thief for a little warmth. It was getting cooler as the sun sank behind the clouds and from the smell and the behavior of the forest, Regina understood that a storm was coming.

When they got back to the house, Regina threw herself down on the couch, absolutely exhausted. She kicked off the boots and Robin handed her a sleeping gown to put on so she didn't have to sleep in her clothes anymore.

"We're taking shorter walks next time," she assured him as she slipped into the bedroom to change. Regina wondered if the gown, too, belonged to Robin's Marian.

She wondered what the thief's wife had been like. Robin had spoken fondly of her, and Regina painted a picture of a beautiful woman with a kind personality, someone Regina could never have been. She also wondered about Robin's son, Roland. What was he like? She pictured a cute four-year-old Henry that she had once known, curious, mischievous, and playful. Also so innocent. She was dying to meet Roland. She missed having a child in her life.

Regina slid underneath the covers of her bed and was about to blow out the candle when Robin slipped into her room.

"Just thought I'd wish you goodnight, milady," he said. He looked like he wanted to say more, but he kept it in.

Regina smiled warmly at him, suddenly wondering why she wasn't pushing the thief away like she did everyone else. Was it because he was her true love?

"Goodnight, Robin," she whispered and turned over to blow out the candle. When she turned back around Robin loomed over her. Regina couldn't keep away the surprised gasp.

This time, he really did bend down and kiss her forehead. "Sweet dreams."

She didn't know what to do or say, or even what to feel. She just stared at him, nodded, and smiled before sinking under the covers. Robin closed the door, and Regina found herself staring longingly after him.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: So…weird reaction, huh? I actually didn't intend for that to happen, but I guess that's what did. But, prepare for a little heartbreak in this chapter, guys. Sorry!**

* * *

Another day had come. Regina checked in the mirror as soon as she woke up to find that her bruises were almost gone and her cuts were beginning to fade as well. She saw that the tub in the room had been filled again and washed off before putting on the peasant dress and cloak. She followed the same morning routine and went out into the main room of the house, pleased to be able to walk better now.

"Good morning, Regina," Robin greeted. He was already dressed and making breakfast. This time, he had a bit of bacon on her plate, which Regina happily accepted.

"Morning," Regina responded and dug into her meal.

After breakfast, Robin went to wash the dishes, but Regina insisted on helping. She hopped up to her feet and took the plate and cup from his hand before he could resist and began to wash them in the sink.

"Regina, you don't have to do that, I can get it," he said as he came up behind her.

Aware of his close presence, Regina scrubbed harder, her eyes adopting a firmness about them. "Robin, everything you've done for me and this is the least I can do."

She continued to scrub at the plates and then felt his arms wrap around her waist. His lips placed a quick kiss on her shoulder and when his lips made contact with her skin, she realized she'd been scrubbing really hard. So hard that her sleeve had fallen away a little bit. Regina pushed it back up and kept scrubbing. Robin kissed her shoulder again, this time it was a little more confident.

Regina turned her head slightly and scowled. "Would you stop that?" she hissed, her tone coming off rather bitter.

Robin didn't seem to get it right away and figured the queen was just playing hard to get. So he twirled Regina completely around, closed the small space between them and his lips met hers. Regina froze, and her heart slammed against her chest. She wanted to melt into the kiss, but she knew this would never work out. Villains never got happy endings. Robin would be ripped from her sooner or later. She couldn't bear the thought of losing someone else.

Regina mustered her arms up and shoved the thief away. "What are you doing?" she growled.

Robin looked angered at first, and then he looked ashamed. Regina turned away from him so that she did not have to see his pained expression. "Sorry, milady," he said in a quiet tone. "I just figured you had felt the same way…"

Tears threatened to run down Regina's cheeks. "I…it's not…it's not that. I can't love you Robin. Everything I love gets taken away from me. I don't want you to get hurt or be killed. Villains don't get happy endings, and I've just got to put up with that. I have to accept that because of what I've done I'll never be happy."

"Regina, that's not true. There's not anything out there that can harm you or me," Robin said. He wanted desperately to go over and hug the Queen, but her previous reaction to his kiss made him rethink that and instead he just stood there in the place where he'd stumbled after being shoved away. "You can be happy, and you deserve to be."

"No I don't," Regina snapped and wiped her hands on a nearby towel. She refused to look at Robin still as she passed him to sit in chair. Robin dared himself to sit down across from her, and managed to without any complaint from the Queen. "Not after all I've done."

"Regina, everyone deserves a second chance and everyone deserves to be happy, no matter what they've done," Robin argued.

"I've gotten a second chance!" she hissed. "And a third, and a fourth! Maybe even a fifth! But does that change the way that everyone looks at me? No. I am and I always will be the Evil Queen!"

She buried her head in her hands and Robin frowned at her. Seeing her in such pain was almost too much for him.

Regina continued to sob, and Robin so desperately wanted to reach out to her, but he continued to refrain himself. "You're not evil."

"I may not look it. I may not even act it. But eventually, my true colors show. They always do. That's why I never talk to anyone. I don't want to hurt them and I don't want to hurt myself. I always screw up trying to protect loved ones. That's how I became this way in the first place. I tried to redeem myself several times with Henry, but saving him was always the way I reverted to my old ways," the Queen sobbed. "I've dug myself in a hole too deep. I can never crawl out. I can only sink deeper and deeper."

"Regina—"

"No! Don't…just don't. I…." she stopped and he could see her shaking with cries, anger, sadness, and fear. It almost made Robin cry, too, just to see her like that. "Maybe I should just rid this world of another evil. Maybe I'll just kill myself. No, I'll put myself in a sleeping curse. Only true love's kiss can awaken me from that. Maybe one day, Henry will find me and then I can finally be happy."

Now Robin hopped up. He jumped from his chair and seized Regina. He pulled the Queen to her feet. Anger boiled inside of him. "Regina, listen to yourself! You're talking about taking your life or putting yourself to sleep until your boy can wake you up. That's crazy. You can't do that. People in this world need you, Regina."

"Nobody needs me. Nobody wants me," she replied, tears falling from her face, cascading down her smooth cheeks.

Robin's grip tightened on her arms. "I need you, Regina. I want you. If you need a reason to live, let it be me. Me and my boy. Let me introduce you to Roland."

"No…" Regina ripped free of Robin's grasp and backed away. "No. I'll hurt you and I'll hurt him, just like I hurt everyone else. I don't want that to happen."

"It won't!" Robin hissed.

"It will," Regina said and there was such certainty in her gaze that Robin almost relented and almost believed her.

Robin shook his head. "Look, Regina. I'll leave you alone. I'll leave you alone if you just promise not to harm yourself, do you hear me?"

For a moment she looked as if she might refuse, but Regina felt her muscles relax and she sheepishly nodded. "Fine. I won't harm myself. Happy?"

"Yes," Robin said, but there was sadness in his gaze. It tore a hole through Regina's heart, refusing him like that. She would have loved to still be kissing him. She wanted him to look at her the way he had done in the forest yesterday. But she was too afraid. She was too afraid of being in love, loving, and losing it.

"Sorry…" she said after a moment and turned to head back into her bedroom. "I wish it could be different."

"It can."

Regina shook her head. "It can't. I'll be in here. Just…just call if you need me."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Some of you were curious about what Snow and Charming will do since Regina's missing. I planned to show you in this chapter, so without further ado…**

* * *

As soon as Regina shut the door to the bedroom, she collapsed on the bed and sobbed uncontrollably into her pillows, doing her best to muffle her cries. She was tired of being the Evil Queen. She was tired of being a villain. Every time she tried to be happy, it just got taken away. Perhaps she would forever live, lost and alone like she had since the day that Daniel died.

After she'd cried all the tears, Regina sat up, knowing that it was well into the night. She walked over to the window and sat down in the sill and leaned her head back against the wooden frame. Regina stared up at the stars and the full moon as they cast a wan light into the small bedroom. Everything was quiet and peaceful outside. Unlike her.

Just as she was about to pull away and finally sink into the covers for the night, a speck of green caught her attention and suddenly, with a flash, Tinkerbelle appeared, wearing a most unpleasant face.

"Regina!" she scolded quietly. "You've messed up all over again. Didn't you learn your lesson the first time?"

Regina scowled at the fairy, whom had obviously gotten her wings back from the Blue Fairy. "Be glad you finally got your wings back and don't bother yourself with me. I can't be happy."

Tinkerbelle frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. "Of course you can, with that man right outside of this room, and his little boy. Regina, Robin Hood needs you in his life, a woman, someone he can count on to always be there for him. His little boy, Roland, needs a mother and you have tons of practice."

The Queen's lips twitched into a frown. "I don't want Robin or Roland. I want Daniel and Henry."

"Both of which are no longer in this world," Tinkerbelle reminded Regina, sending a strong wave of sadness over her. She sat down in the window sill again, her emotions making it hard for her to stand still. "Besides, I know you love Robin. Why else would you be this upset? And Roland…oh, Regina you'll fall in love with that little boy the second you see him."

"But they'll get hurt. Anyone I love gets hurt. Look at my parents, both of which are dead. Daniel's dead. Henry is in another land without any memory of me, the woman who raised him for his first ten years of life," Regina said.

"Darling, there is nothing else here that will hurt you," Tinkerbelle assured.

Regina turned to the fairy and snarled, "Do you _not_ know the reason I'm here for? The thief saved me from Snow and Charming's knights who tried to kill me. So yes, someone does want to hurt me and I'm sure they'll do it in any tangible way possible."

"Nonsense. One of them blabbed and they were all fired and banished from the kingdom, forced to live in the deserted parts of the Enchanted Forest. Snow and Charming are very worried about you, Regina. They've had everyone looking far and wide for you." Tinkerbelle sat down on the bed and smoothed out her petite green dress.

Those words sparked a small hope in Regina. Knowing that her stepdaughter and her husband at least had something in them to care about the woman who caused nothing but heartbreak and torture throughout their entire time of knowing each other made her feel as if her attempts to redeem herself hadn't all been in vain.

"They're really looking for me?" Regina asked.

Tinkerbelle nodded, as if the answer was obvious. "Of course they are. In fact, as soon as I leave I'll be reporting to them that I've found you in the Sherwood Forest."

_The Sherwood Forest? That's where I am? _Of course, it wasn't far away from Snow and Charming's castle and was still a part of the Enchanted Forest, but it still felt foreign to Regina.

"What will they do once they find me?" the Queen asked in a quiet voice.

The fairy gave a small shrug. "Depends. Do you want them to come and get you? Or would you like to find your own way home?"

"Tell them to come and get me as fast as possible. I can't stand being here anymore. I don't want to hurt anyone else," Regina responded and looked up at Tinkerbelle, who gave her a knowing look.

"Regina, you aren't concerned about hurting someone or yourself…well, you are, but that's not the real reason why you don't want to be with Robin. You're scared. You are scared of love." Tinkerbelle smiled as if she had just solved the biggest mystery ever.

"I am not scared for that reason. I just don't want anyone else dying on my account," the Queen argued, but Tinkerbelle just gave her a look as she scooted off the bed and towards the window, and the more Regina thought about it, she realized that perhaps Tinkerbelle was right.

Love scared her in more ways than one. She didn't know how to love very well because for such a long time she'd been incapable of it, and when she had it, often times she held it too close and it ended up slipping through her fingers. That's what had always happened.

Tinkerbelle turned into a small fairy in a green aura. "Promise me, Regina. Promise me that you'll try to love Robin Hood."

"I can't—"

"You _can_. Stop telling yourself that you cannot. Regina, you aren't a villain anymore. You've renounced your ways as the Evil Queen, no matter how you are thought of by others. That alone will allow you to live a happy life with a good man and his sweet child." Tinkerbelle began to drift out of the window, her wings fluttering softly.

Regina shook her head. "I'm sorry, I can't make any promises."

"I think eventually you will. Whether you like it or not Regina, I prophecied that you would find happiness with this man. You can't mess with the future. It is already written. Goodbye. I'll be sure to send in word to Snow and Charming for you. They'll be along shortly to pick you up. Farewell," and with that, the fairy disappeared as if she had never been there at all.

Regina sighed heavily and sunk down into the covers of her bed, casting a longing glance at the door, where she knew on the other side, was Robin Hood of Locksley, the thief she refused to love, yet found herself falling for.

After several grueling minutes, the Queen drifted off into an uneasy sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Robin couldn't sleep. Well into the night, he just sat on the couch, gaze glued to the door Regina had shut herself in after he'd kissed her.

A fresh pang of guilt climbed through his limbs. He had kissed the Queen. What had he been thinking? Had he actually thought that the Queen would love him, a thief? A man she barely knew, and vice versa. Yet he still couldn't get her out of his head no matter how hard he tried—her beautiful hair, her gentle and sad brown eyes, and that alto voice. He wanted to kiss away all her sadness and fears, yet when he had tried she had pushed him away.

He felt so guilty and so mad at himself, reliving the moment as her small hands pressed against his chest and with a strength he found her most incapable of, she shoved him away from her. Her face had contorted into anger and longing and heartache. At first she had refused to cry, and eventually the tears fell. Regina had presented to him a woman, battered almost beyond repair, like a ship in the ocean on the verge of sinking into the depths unknown.

She blamed herself, she had said. Robin knew she blamed herself for everything and maybe it was rightfully so. She had killed, tortured, stolen, caused pain but she had renounced her ways. He could see the goodness blossoming inside of her, the goodness she failed to see for herself.

Regina had locked herself in her room and for what seemed like hours, he could hear her soft, muffled sobs, only quieted by the closed door and her best attempts to hide her woes from him. But he had heard, and he had seen them all on her face when she had shown him the vulnerable Queen after he'd kissed her, unraveled her every hidden emotion until she spilled everything in front of him—how she was to blame, how she did not deserve happiness he wanted to give her so badly.

She was scared. She was angry. She was sad. She was lost. She was alone. And she was so many other things yet she refused to let Robin heal her of all her heart ache.

After a while her sobs had subsided and the small house was filled with silence. An unbearable silence, Robin thought as he stared up at the ceiling, thinking of the beautifully broken Queen. This silence brought along terrible thoughts, delving into his darkest moments, reliving for himself the stories the Queen had told him almost two days before of her dead parents, the sweet stable boy, and her adopted child in the land they had recently returned from.

Robin mulled over all that Regina had lost. He could see where her pain would come from, those scars that had never fully healed, reopened the moment his mouth had crashed against hers, letting her get a taste of a happiness she did not trust but wanted so badly. He was conflicted, almost as conflicted as the Queen. At one moment he wanted to storm into her bedroom, where she had confined herself, press her against the wall, hold her so tightly that she couldn't escape, and kiss her misery goodbye. He wanted to show her Roland, watch her as her eyes sparkled at the sight of his beloved son. Yet another part of him said not to bother the Queen, to leave her be, and not force himself on her.

A saying came to his mind then, one he hated and loved at the same time: _If you love something, set it free. If it comes back, it's yours and if it doesn't, it never was._

He would wait for Regina, he resolved, feeling his eyes flutter with heavy sleep, as patiently as he could. He would wait for her to warm up to him just enough that she'd let him get close. And with that thought, he drifted asleep.

The Queen's love would be his. He found his heart had never belonged to someone so intensely or powerfully before. Not even his late Marian, rest her soul.

* * *

Regina dreamed that night, the first dream she had had since Robin had rescued her from the vigilante knights determined to kill her.

She dreamed of five hearts.

_One heart belonged to her beloved Daniel, her childhood love. One minute the heart was glowing, glistening brightly and the next, a hand swept in, grabbed the heart in a fist and squeezed. Laughter boomed, loud, beating down on Regina's sensitive ears as the heart crushed and turned into a pile of ash. She could hear her mouth open, a wail ripping from her throat, but she had no time to mourn for her eyes were torn to another heart, the heart of her father. _

_This heart did not glow, for it had not been magically ripped from his body. No, it was bloody, nasty and pink, smelling of the dead. Blood dripped from it as Regina saw herself stabbing, crying, and stabbing again, dislodging the heart from her father's chest, pulling away and looking at the blood on her fingers. No more time for mourning. _

_A third heart came into view. Her mother's. The woman who had killed Daniel. Regina looked upon that blackened heart, its red glow hardly visible through the shadow that loomed around it. A candle was placed above the heart then and a whisper echoed through her mind. And then Regina saw herself stick the poisoned heart into her mother, watched her mother sink to the ground, and die in her arms._

_The fourth heart was glowing not just red but gold, and Regina knew that heart well. The heart of the truest believer, the heart of her son, Henry. She reached out to grab the heart, hopefully to reunite it with her boy's body, but it slipped through her fingertips and out of her reach, carried away in a dark cloud with not a trace of her adopted child._

_Regina turned to the fifth heart. It glowed, brighter than them all, such a clear and vibrant red. The Queen cynically stared at this heart, but it did not crush under the weight of a hand, it was not ripped from a chest, it was not poisoned, and it did not vanish. In fact, if anything, the heart seemed to grow. Regina caught a small glimpse of a man, in the woods, hunting, bow up and ready to shoot at a target. He was hooded but the moment he turned and she got a view of his profile, she knew who's heart this was, and perhaps she had known all along. The heart belonged to Robin._

Regina's eyes snapped open and she sat up in bed, gasping. Her body was slicked with sweat and beads of it trickled down her forehead. Her lips were dry, as was her mouth and a headache loomed closely behind her eyes.

The Queen felt aches climbing through her arms and her legs and she found it hard to move. Her nightgown clung to her moist skin and she crawled from the bed, onto the floor, nausea sweeping over her as made her way to the window sill. But before she got there, her stomach clenched, her throat tightened, and bile filled her mouth. Before she knew it, she was retching, spitting up her meal onto the floor. And when she had vomited up everything in her stomach, she continued to lurch forward with dry heaves, choking up nothing more than spittle.

There was a crash behind her, the sound and her own weakness bringing spots to her eyes as she tried to stand. But she stumbled, collapsing on her side on the hard ground. Her entire body throbbed and she felt strong hands lifting her, a cool, wet cloth wiping at her chin and then coming to rest on her head.

Realizing her eyes were closed, Regina looked up, into the face of Robin and began squirming in his grasp. No, she wanted no part of him. But as she squirmed his arms held on tightly and she felt the bed spring up to meet her. She relaxed into the straw mattress, grimacing as she heard wood churning on stone as Robin drug a chair over and placed it next to her.

His hand fell on her forehead. Regina reached up to push his arm away but his other hand grabbed both of her wrists and held them tightly. "Regina, stop it. You're sick, very sick. I need to cool you down."

Regina groaned in contempt as his hand brushed each of her cheeks, resting on the last one tenderly as he rubbed it with his thumb. The Queen growled and moved her face away from his touch. "Stop it," she hissed to him, wrenching her hands free from his tight grasp. "Go away… leave me alone. You promised."

Robin drew his face close to hers, his features laced with concentration as he held the wet rag against her forehead. "That is not what I meant, and besides, you need my help. I'm not leaving."

The Queen's face contorted with anger and her fever-red cheeks flushed even further. Her palms pressed against his chest and at him. Once. Then a second time. Robin held his ground, her weakened blows not affecting him much. "_Go away_," she snarled, teeth clenching.

The thief swatted at her hands and she brought them to rest, knowing she wasn't doing herself any good. Regina glared at Robin, long and hard as he wiped the rag along her forehead, her cheeks, and along her neck yet she could not deny the cooling sensation it brought to her skin.

Even though her temperature seemed to decrease, her stomach hurt again and her head began to throb more than it had. Every wound that she had acquired a little under a week ago seemed to shoot fire through her veins and she shivered uncontrollably with each bout of pain.

Robin noticed this and took hold of one of her arms, inspecting a cut on it. He then looked at the other arm, frowned and moved to her legs, searching each and every one of the cuts. Unsatisfied with what he was looking for, his eyes landed on the lash marks which only slightly stuck out of Regina's nightgown on her lower chest.

"I should have paid more attention to those," he muttered to himself, but it was loud enough before. "They were infected before and they're infected again."

Robin disappeared from the room and Regina could hear him rummaging around. Her fever seared through her, biting at her with flames almost as strong as her wounds. Her head continued to pound behind her eyes and nausea swept over again, but she did not retch. Regina clawed at the mattress and hot tears leaked from her eyes. Her back arched and she whimpered through gritted teeth.

After a few minutes, the thief returned holding a bowl full of herb-smelling salve. He set them down next to him and looked at Regina with eyes almost full of shame.

"Your Majesty, I'm going to have to take a look at those whip marks," he said, his voice only slightly above a whisper.

The Queen stared at him, a blatant horror overcoming her features. She felt embarrassed yet at the same time, something else too, like she actually wanted the thief to look at her uncovered body, focus on more than the wounds on her chest. Regina scolded herself instantly for such thoughts, tried to push them away, but they remained, seared in her mind.

"No," she growled and as his hands reached for the buttons on the nightgown, she grabbed his wrist, making sure her fingernails dug into his skin. Robin jerked his hand back and glared at her.

"I have to or else you're going to be suffering a lot more than a fever," he said firmly and pursed his lips. He reached for Regina again and she felt tears beginning to fall from her eyes as he slowly unbuttoned the gown. She turned her head away from the stink of infection, gritting her teeth as she felt cool air settle on her naked breasts and belly.

If Robin even paid attention to the sight before his eyes, he never acknowledged it. He simply applied the salve on the lash marks between her breasts, and all the way down her belly. Once he'd finished, he buttoned the gown back up more quickly than he'd unbuttoned it and wordlessly left the room with the salve bowl.

Regina laid there and cried. She cried because she loved the thief, she cried because she was scared, because she was angry at him, because she was so lost and alone, because she could never be happy. When Robin returned he used the old rag to wipe the vomit from the floor and supplied a new one to rest on Regina's forehead.

Regina could feel Robin's closeness as he settled into the chair at her bedside, often readjusting the rag as it slipped from her sweaty forehead. Sometimes he dabbed her burning cheeks with it and gently rubbed the rag against her neck. All the while he held a kind yet concentrated face. Regina refused to sleep though and wordlessly glared up at him. Well, it had started off as a glare, but later on her gaze had softened.

At some point, when the sun had begun to rise, Regina fell asleep.

* * *

**A/N: Our poor, sick baby Regina! D:**

**What do I do to her?**


	8. Chapter 8

Robin had stayed awake through the entire night and on into the next day even as Regina slept. The chair he sat in was uncomfortable, his back aching from bending over the sleeping woman through the quiet and slow hours of the night and on into morning. His eyes were heavy and droopy from getting no sleep but it never came, even in those brief moments when Robin allowed himself to concentrate on falling asleep, yet the thought of a sick Regina always brought him back.

By the time noon rolled around, the Queen had still not aroused from her sleep. She lay on her back, hands clasped together as they rested on the slow and steady rise on her chest as she breathed. Robin admired the way her long, curly black hair drifted around her and spilled over the pillow as she slept, the way her eyes fluttered, and the ways her lips twitched in her sleep. He was glad that her fever had gone down quickly as well, for its high peak had worried him.

Robin knew he'd have to put more salve on her infected wounds again. He knew how much it pained her for him to uncover part of her body like that, but for the sake of those tears he'd seen her shed, he hadn't looked the first time and he vowed not to again as he left the room to grab the salve for a second dose of the medicine.

When he returned he unbuttoned the gown again, relieved to see that the marks from the whip already looked so much better, yet they were far from healing. The wounds had successfully soaked up last night's dose of salve and so Robin applied the second, trying his best not to concentrate on Regina's soft skin underneath his fingertips or her exposed chest he so desperately wanted to look at. As soon as he was done spreading around the herbs he redid her buttons and covered the blanket over the Queen.

In response to the new warmth of the blanket, Regina fidgeted from her night of stillness, turning to rest on her side, hands cocooned between her neck and chest. Robin smiled at the sight and brushed a few locks of black hair from her face, caressing her face in his hands for a moment before remembering his promise to her. He sat back in his chair, watching her a moment longer to be sure she was okay before getting up and drawing her a bath. He knew she'd want one when she woke up.

* * *

Brilliant sun filtered through the windows, hurting her eyes as they opened. Her headache had dulled, her wounds throbbed in a minor manor, and her stomach was not even a problem. Regina looked around, finding herself curled up on her side, facing Robin, a fist clutching the fabric of his shirt. She looked up into his face and found those comforting blue eyes watching her intently, concern knitted on Robin's brow.

The Queen unclenched her fist from his shirt and rolled up into a sitting position, cringing as her entire body fussed at the movement, especially her arms, legs, and back. She became conscious of Robin's hand, helping her steady herself and instantly she slapped it away, finding sitting to be difficult on her own, but she managed, if only barely.

The thief hopped to his feet and Regina realized how tired he looked, realized he must have stayed awake all night and throughout the day as she slept. She couldn't stop her hand from resting on his briefly as she told him, "Go rest," before pulling away just as quickly.

Robin obliged, stiffly getting to his feet and stretching. Through his tight shirt Regina could see his muscles moving to the way he twisted his back and stretched out his arms and bit her lip at the sight. "I drew you a bath, milady, and I will fix you a meal." With that he was gone and he closed the bedroom door behind him.

Regina slipped out of her nightclothes and looked at her wounds in the mirror. The bruises the knights had left on her face, arms, and legs had all but faded. The cut on her bottom lip remained, but it was almost gone. The cuts and scrapes on her arms fadingly lingered as well. What concerned her were the festering whip marks that started at her upper chest and trailed all the way down to her belly button. There were three of them, overlapping in many places. Just looking at them made Regina's stomach churn and so she turned away from her reflection and slipped into the tub.

She was still sitting in the water, sighing gratefully as it lapped at her sticky skin and sweat-smelling hair, when there came a knock on the bedroom door. Regina flinched and sank further down into the bath as Robin called to her.

"Your Majesty, are you decent?" he asked through the wooden door.

"No, just a minute!" she called as she hopped from the tub and dried herself with a towel before slipping the peasant's dress. And then she sat on the bed, hands in her lap as she finally called out. "Okay, you can come in now."

A bit cautiously, as if not sure what to expect when he opened the door, Robin walked in holding a tray of food in his hands. It contained cornmeal and a little bacon as well as a glass of milk. He set the food down in the Queen's lap and stood off to the side, if a bit awkwardly.

"Would you like me to stay or shall I go dine on my own?" Robin asked.

Regina looked up at him, a half-chewed bite of bacon clenched firmly between her teeth. She swallowed and eyed him a bit longer, not really sure what to say.

Tinkerbelle's words echoed in her ears as if the fairy was actually there, whispering them as she had done last night. _You can't mess with the future. It is already written. _Regina closed her eyes, and felt herself nod once. Tinkerbelle's words came again. _I prophecied that you would find happiness with this man. _

She wanted to yell at Robin to leave just then, but it was too late. He had already sat down on the edge of the bed beside her with his own tray of food and ate in silence, casting her an occasional glance every now and then which she always returned. Grudgingly of course, trying to look as cold and uninterested as possible.

* * *

The Queen was an impossible woman. Robin could never tell a thing with her. Her reactions always varied. At first she looked completely annoyed and angered that he was giving her the option whether or not he could stay and eat with her, but then she had nodded him a yes. Every time he looked at her though, her returning glances were always anger-filled and icy.

When they were done eating, Robin took their trays and left them by the stove before returning to Regina's room, looking her up and down as she sat, her dark gaze intently on him.

"Are you going to stay in here forever?" he asked her.

Regina frowned at him and crossed her arms over her chest. "Of course not." She looked like she wanted to say more, maybe give him a reason, but she didn't.

Robin opened his mouth to point this out but there came a knock at his door. Figuring it was one of the merry men, he opened up to find himself face to face with people he thought he would never confront.

Prince Charming and his wife, Snow White. Along with the seven dwarfs and about ten guards.

"Hello?" he asked. "May I help you?"

Snow White spoke up, her eyes wide and frightened. "Is the Queen here?"

Robin nodded. "Yes. Your knights tried to—"

Prince Charming held up a hand to silence the thief. "We already know. Those knights have been banished to the farthest parts of the Enchanted Forest and have been dismissed from service. We come for the Queen."

"I'm not sure if that's such a good idea. You see, she's pretty sick and—"

Snow White interrupted Robin Hood this time. "She sent word that she wanted us to come and get her, bring her back to the castle."

Deciding he couldn't put up a fight against a prince, his princess, seven dwarves, and ten guards, Robin relented. Besides, it was what Regina wanted. He gestured forward and the party followed him inside of the small house, but only Prince Charming and Snow White advanced into the room.

Regina was how Robin had left her, curled up on the bed, under the covers, eyes hard and staring. When she saw Snow and Charming though, something about her seemed relieved. Unkind but relieved. "You came," she said, a bit of surprise in her voice.

"Of course we did, Regina," Snow White answered and ran to her stepmother's side. "Did you doubt it?"

"Yes," the Queen responded flatly and scrambled out of bed, away from Snow, standing on shaky feet. "Can we go now?" she asked impatiently.

"We can go, yes." Charming began to motion every one out the door but Robin stopped him, grabbed him by the arm.

"Prince..." He trailed off, not really wanting to call the prince 'Prince Charming'.

"David," corrected the prince. Robin nodded.

"David," he addressed and then went on. "Would you mind if I came along. Regina's kind of gotten inside of my head and I want to make sure she's okay. Also, I believe with your lack of knights, you could use a few extra protective hands around. My merry men and I would gladly be of service," he proposed.

The prince thought of this for a little while, tipped his head, left even to go confront Snow and when he returned he clapped Robin of Locksley on the back. "Well then, Sir Robin Hood, let's depart."

And they were off, with a mission to find the merry men and return to the castle. Regina seemed to grumble about this quietly, but Robin heard her mutter that she could find plenty of hiding places from a thief in the castle. Robin couldn't help but grin. A thief could find a Queen anywhere.

* * *

**A/N: So they're all heading off to the castle! This should arouse new adventure for our couple. And, be prepared for a little Regina/Roland meeting in the near future!**


	9. Chapter 9

Regina was both miserable and excited with the thought of Robin tagging along and living in the castle with his merry men as guards in place of the knights who had been dismissed from service for trying to kill her. All she wanted was Robin to be out of her life so she never had to love anyone again and wouldn't have to hurt herself or others. Yet, she also wanted the thief in her life forever.

As their riding progressed through the Sherwood Forest, Regina's fever returned but she failed to mention it to the others who rode around her—not to Snow, not to Charming, and not to Robin. Her head throbbed and the wounds on her chest began to ache again. Nausea swept through her each time the horse underneath of her moved, but she closed her eyes, took a deep breath and tried with every ounce of her being not to vomit up her breakfast.

After about thirty minutes of riding, Regina began to get a cough, most likely because of her already weakened state and the coolness of the day. Every time she would bark, a terrible sound expelling from her lungs, Robin would turn his head and look at her in concern. She tried to hide her face underneath her thick black hair so he wouldn't see her flushed cheeks or the beads of sweat that trickled down the side of her head. He seemed to notice though because eventually he drew his bay stallion back so that it walked alongside of her black mare.

"Your Majesty," he said, studying the profile of her weary face. "You look tired."

Regina avoided his eyes, refused to even look at him. A hand instinctively curled around the mare's mane, and she began to study the wiry black locks intensely as she felt Robin's eyes still on her. "I'm fine," she snapped out eventually, cringing at her tone.

Robin seemed untouched by her incessant rudeness. "You don't look fine," he observed lightly. "Once we reach the merry men I can request a break."

"The sooner I get to the castle, the better," she hissed through gritted teeth, glancing briefly at Robin through the corner of her eyes before averting her gaze to the horse's mane once more. "They have doctors."

She had intended for her words to bite, sink deep into his feelings, maybe even offend him since for the past few days he'd been the one to take care of her, clean her wounds, and soothe her fevers. Regina figured putting the thought of a professional taking over his job would make him jealous in a way, yet he seemed unfazed. Through her peripheral vision, she could still see that wide smile on his face and his gleaming blue eyes.

Up ahead, the party stopped and Regina pulled back on the reigns of her horse. The mare came to a halt and bent down to munch on the grass as David turned around to Robin. "How far until we reach the merry men?" he asked, a bit of irritation creeping into his tone.

Robin pointed north. "About another five minutes of trekking. The camp isn't hard to find, believe me. You'll see it once you round this corner."

David, seemingly satisfied with his answer, kicked his horse forward and the large chestnut stallion obliged. Regina stared at his mount for a moment, frowning, thinking of how much the horse reminded her of her childhood steed, Rocinante. Quickly pushing the thought of her horse, and the latter thoughts of Daniel away, she focused once more on her little mare, a small smile etched on her lips as she watched the horse's mane bob up and down with each step excited step.

"You like horses," a voice observed. Regina glanced at Robin and she quirked an eyebrow.

Then, she nodded. "Of course, I do."

He just stared at her a moment, eyes locked into hers before she pulled away from his look. Before she knew it, they were at the camp. Merry men sat out around a fire, a tent pitched for each one. A little boy ran around a giant man's legs and Regina could only guess that he was Roland. Other than him, the other men were adults.

Robin dismounted as soon as they approached and he earned himself quizzical looks from the merry men. Regina watched on in silence as he gathered them all in a tent and closed the flap. The conversation was muffled and she couldn't hear what was being said.

* * *

Once inside of the tent, Robin's legs were captured in a hug from his son Roland. He ruffled the little boy's hair and swept him up in his arms, planting a big kiss on his cheek. The boy giggled delightedly and squirmed to be put down. Robin set his son down and the little boy dashed off to sit in a corner.

The thief turned to his band of outlaws and smiled at them despite their quizzical and perhaps bloodthirsty looks.

Little John, a large man, was the first to speak up. "Robin, how did you manage to bring an entire entourage of royals to our doorstep?" he asked and grinned widely at his best friend.

"We're not going to rob them," Robin said firmly, pursing his lips together and ignoring the look of concern, dismay, and utter shock he received from his friends. "We're helping them."

Another merry man, Alan-a-Dale, who was just called Alan, piped up and guffawed loudly. "You've got to be joking," he scoffed.

"Oh, that's a good one, buddy!" said old Friar Tuck as he pounded John on the back with a fit of laughter.

Other merry men chimed in. Will and Arthur were chuckling loudly together, and even Robin's nephew Much failed to see that his uncle was serious. When Robin cleared his throat, the laughter ceased and everyone stiffened, realizing Robin Hood was not joking on such a matter.

"He's gone crazy," Arthur whispered to Will. Friar Tuck jabbed the both of them with his elbows as they snickered.

Robin glared hard at his men. "I'm being completely serious. You see, this woman—"

Little John raised his eyebrows and his voice cut Robin off. "There's always a girl, Robin."

The thief glared at his best friend, his gaze burning on him harder than it had on anyone else. "It's not like that, and there hasn't been a _girl_ since Marian," he growled, gritting his teeth as he went on. "As I was saying, this woman was attacked and almost killed by a group of vigilante knights in the service of Snow White and Prince Charming. I saved her and tried my best to nurse her back to health, which didn't work, mind you. She's still very sick. Snow and Charming came looking for her to return her to the castle but when they informed me they were a few men short, I decided that I would help them—that we all would."

"It's the girl," Will told Arthur, thinking he was being quiet when all of the merry men—including Robin—could hear him just fine. "Our thief leader fancies the girl he rescued. Ah, the classic damsel in distress and her knight in shining armor story."

Robin's eyes fastened on Will and the merry men shrunk back nervously, bumping into someone behind him, who grumbled. "She was not a damsel in distress. She's shown me that many a time. I feel, though, that we should indebt ourselves to the prince and princess. After all, most of us have taken up vows to stop stealing and we could use a few jobs so we don't bore our butts off."

A few who had not agreed moaned loudly, quieting as soon as Robin's intense gaze landed on them.

"Who was the woman you saved?" Little John asked, tipping his head to one side curiously.

"The Queen," Robin replied almost automatically. "Regina."

Everyone gasped in unison. "The _Evil _Queen? Robin, why didn't you just let them kill her?" asked Friar Tuck, which was surprising to hear that come out of the friar's mouth.

Robin gaped at him a moment before responding. "Yes, the Evil Queen. And I didn't let them kill her because it wasn't an authorized execution. Also, I knew she could have used magic to strike them all down dead, but she didn't. I can tell she's trying to change and she didn't deny it when I pointed it out to her."

"But what if—"

Robin cut Arthur off with a flick of his wrist in the air. "Men, gather your horses and any personal belongings you wish to bring. Don't forget your weapons either. The roads to the castle can be dangerous, but once we get there, I would not be surprised to find if you are reequipped with something nicer."

The thought of this aroused excited chatter and the men turned off easily to go gather their things, clearly liking the idea of a new weapon. Robin turned to his son, Roland, who was gazing up at him in wonder and swung the little boy into his arms.

"Daddy, are we really going to go live in the castle?" he asked, his dark eyes wide.

Robin nodded to his soon. "Of course we are. You'll have tons of fun. Hey, Roland, do you want to meet the woman I saved?"

The boy's eyes lit up and he gasped. "The Queen? Oh, daddy, I want to meet the Queen!" he chirped.

Robin was glad to hear that his son didn't know of all the horrible things the Queen had done, nor did he want his son to. The thief eagerly led his son out of the tent by the hand, yearning to see the look on Regina's face when she caught a glimpse of his son, of the happiness they could share together. Maybe Roland could make her see.

* * *

It had only taken a few minutes before Robin appeared again from the tent, guiding the little boy Regina had caught a glimpse of earlier by the hand. The thief dragged his child along eagerly and Regina tore her gaze away from father and son, watching as the merry men hustled about loading up supplies and gathering their steeds for the trip to the castle.

It was when she turned around did she realize the thief had brought his child over to her. Regina studied the little boy. He looked a lot like his father, but he had a head full of curly dark hair. His eyes sparkled such a dark brown they were almost black and when he smiled up at Regina, there were dimples in his chubby cheeks. He reminded Regina so much of Henry at four years of age that she almost cringed. Almost. But she didn't.

"Hello, Your Majesty!" he said in a cheerful voice and swooped low in a bow. "I'm Roland."

Regina, despite her throbbing headache, her churning stomach, and her cough, turned to the little boy and managed the best smile she could. "I'm Regina."

The little boy stared up at her with concern pooling in his eyes and tipped his head, his little curls bouncing against his cherubic face. His smile lessened and his face grew lines of worry like his father's. "You don't look like a queen," he said in a disappointed tone. "Queens wear jewelry and gowns and gold."

Robin gently nudged his son. "Roland. Manners," he chided.

"It's okay," Regina told the child's father. "Roland, dear, once you see me at the castle I will indeed look like a queen."

The boy paid his father no mind as he stared up at Regina and she down at him. His face lightened up at her words but instantly was dragged down again as a new thought burdened his little head. "Daddy said you were sick," he told her.

Regina glanced up at Robin, who flashed her an innocent smile, before turning her gaze back to the little boy rocking on his heels with his hands clutched behind his back. "I'm okay. You don't need to worry about me."

"But you look sick," he murmured and walked up to the horse's side, placing his hands on the animal's shoulder as he stood on his tiptoes to look up at the Queen. Robin followed closely behind and stroked the mare's neck to calm her down at the sense of this new touch.

The Queen chuckled and was punished with a violent churn of her stomach. "I'm not feeling my greatest," she admitted weakly.

Roland then made grabby hands up at Regina and she knew what that meant. He wanted to sit astride the horse with her. Roland looked at her and she at him for permission. Once the thief saw their eyes both held the same question he lifted the young boy by the armpits and sat him up on the saddle with the Queen.

Roland craned his neck and looked back at Regina with a large grin, his little dimples showing once more on his beautiful face. Regina resisted the urge to peck those dimples with her lips as he giggled at her before turning to gaze around him in wonder.

"I feel so tall!" he chirped loudly, gesturing his arms outwards. Then he let out an excited shriek as the caravan of royals and thieves began to move towards the castle, which Regina was grateful for.

Robin looked over at his son with a hard stare. "Son, please be quiet. The Queen doesn't feel well."

"Oh, sorry," Roland whispered and put a finger to his lips. He looked up at Regina again with a sheepish smile and as she smiled back down at the boy he noticed her flushed cheeks and the beads of sweat rolling down her forehead.

Tentatively, the young boy reached up a hand and touched her cheek in the same manner as his father. His lip quivered and he jerked his hand away. "Queen Gina," he gasped and Regina couldn't help but chuckle as he mispronounced her name on his inexperienced tongue. "You're burning up."

"I'm not feeling well," she reminded him and let loose one of the reigns to gently tap his nose with her finger. The boy giggled and seemed to forget about the Queen's sickness.

The ride progressed with Roland sitting in front of her, one hand wrapped around his tiny waist and the other holding the black mare's reigns as they traveled for the castle. At one point in time, Roland laid his head back on Regina's chest and closed his eyes. Before she knew it, the small boy was asleep. Robin threw her an apologetic glance as he saw his son asleep against the Queen but she waved off his apologies. She actually enjoyed the small child nestled against her.

* * *

**A/N: Regina finally met Roland! Yay! And, they're on the way home.**


	10. Chapter 10

When they reached the castle, Regina could hardly keep herself upwards from exhaustion. She was feeling a strain in her legs from sitting astride the horse for several hours and was weakened from sickness. Her wounds burned almost as badly as they had last night and she felt herself itching to see a doctor.

Robin lifted a sleeping Roland from Regina's horse and handed the boy off to Little John with instructions to put the boy in bed to whatever wing of the castle the merry men were assigned to occupy. A few of the guards took the merry men off as Robin lifted Regina from the horse's saddle before waving a stable boy to take the mare away.

There was no complaint from Regina because she found no ounce of strength in her to complain about Robin, even as he adjusted her in his strong arms so that he carried her bridal style. Her whole body felt as if it was on fire with fever and infection. Her head rolled against the thief's chest and she closed her eyes as she nestled herself against him, her nose suddenly filled with his forest scent.

"We need a doctor!" David and Snow were calling as they approached the castle doors, which were opened hastily to allow them inside.

Eyes turned to Robin as he carried Regina and he watched their expressions closely as they saw the Queen they had feared for years suddenly weakened by pain and sickness. Some people's eyes glimmered with satisfaction, happy she was suffering. Others looked concerned and some just plain didn't care. Robin cast a glare at all of those who seemed impressed with the Queen's condition.

Regina couldn't bring herself to scowl because she knew that she deserved it. She deserved more than just people glad she was sick. In fact, she deserved the death the knights had almost brought her.

_You deserve happiness, _the voices of Robin and Tinkerbelle echoed in her ears. Regina whimpered and buried her head further into Robin's chest to drown out the voices which continued to replay over and over again in her mind.

The Queen felt herself being brought up a set of stairs and even without looking she knew they were headed towards her chambers. The room brought nothing but tormented memories of mourning after Daniel's death, throwing her mother through the looking glass, learning magic, sleeping with her knights and eventually killing them afterwards. Emotions of smoldering hate had been pent up in her chambers and now, a changed Regina was reluctant to return.

But they did anyways.

Robin gently set Regina down in her bed and pulled up a chair next to it where he sat down. He ran his fingers through her hair and his touch sent tingles along her skull, where they continued down her back and to the tips of her toes. He smoothed the hair out of her face and pulled it away from her sticky neck. She let him do this, actually leaned into his touch a few times until she grabbed his hand with her own and pushed it away with a warning look to her eyes.

Snow White eventually burst her way into the room and Robin watched as Regina flinched as her head responded negatively to the doors as they slammed shut behind the princess and another person, a woman, who she knew as Widow Lucas, the old wolf who had run Granny's Diner in Storybrooke.

"Be quiet!" Robin hissed as the two women approached the bedside.

Snow White looked at him innocently with her angelic face, flashing an apologetic smile. "Sorry," she murmured and looked at Regina who glowered up at her. "I brought Granny. She's going to help you."

The Queen shifted her gaze to the old woman, her face as hard as a stone as she returned Regina's gaze with fierce blue eyes. She wasn't too sure how she would like the help of the old wolf. Granny seemed to be pretty brutal. After all, there had been several times when Regina had seen the old woman carrying around a crossbow. Not many grannies did that. But as she stared up at Granny, a smile eased out on the older woman's features and she looked kinder suddenly.

Snow White left the room after a harsh glare from Regina and a desperate look from Robin. The Queen was glad that the thief understood her dislike for the princess and she was grateful even to the brat as she dipped her head silently and left the room, being sure to shut the door quietly behind her.

Granny turned to Robin. "So you're the man who saved her, huh?" she asked.

The thief nodded. "I am," he said simply, seemingly humbled.

"Hmm," Granny hummed. "Well, I don't believe I caught your name."

"Robin Hood of Locksley at your service," he said and extended his hand to the elderly woman, who showed a sign of recognition as he announced his name. Everyone knew who Robin Hood was.

Regina almost laughed as she saw the widow roughly take his hand and give it a gruff shake. The look of surprise that came to Robin's face was amusing. "Window Lucas, but everyone calls me Granny." With a look at Regina she turned to Robin. "I'll allow you to stay with the Queen if you leave the room for a bit while she bathes and I dress her wounds."

Regina watched, sighing a breath of relief as Robin dipped his head and without complaint got up from his chair and left her bed chambers.

* * *

Robin had sat outside of the Queen's chambers for at least an hour. He'd been offered food and water by a few servants sent by his merry men, which he had taken. He'd sipped the cup of water dry but most of his meal lay untouched out of concern for Regina. The servants had come by and taken the tray of food and empty cup away from him.

Finally, _finally, _the bed chamber's door cracked open and Granny's grayed head peeked out of the large wooden doors. "You may come in now, Robin," she told him and as soon as he passed through the door, she left it. "Send someone for me if you need anything. I've got her fever down, and her headache is gone. Her wounds are dressed, too. You actually did a decent job of keeping the infection away with your homemade herb salve, but sadly, it was not enough. The Queen will be weakened still for several days."

With that she was gone and Robin was left alone in the chambers with the Queen. He looked around, saw her lying on her bed, eyes fluttering as she tried to go to sleep. She looked like the woman he had always thought of her as. Her hair was down, brushed free of its tangles, loose and spilling like ink over her pillows. She wore a velvet nightgown that clung tightly to her body. She finally looked as a Queen should, not dressed in a peasant's attire with messy hair.

If Robin had seen her as beautiful before, she was absolutely gorgeous now.

He rushed to her side and sat down in the chair, reaching out to brush a piece of hair from her face and pull the blankets up over her. Robin smiled as she sunk under the covers, all that remained visible was her head. He watched the blankets shift until the Queen faced him, her eyes no longer fluttering, but wide open and gazing at him.

"I thought you said you'd leave me alone," she said in a bittersweet tone. "That was a part of our deal."

Robin's lips tugged up weakly, almost regretting that deal, but he thought it was the only one that would keep the Queen alive. He didn't want to see her kill herself or put herself under a sleeping curse. "But, you need me, Your Majesty. Right now, I'm the only one that cares enough to sit throughout the entire night and watch over you even though I got no sleep last night."

Regina frowned. "You should rest, then. I don't need anyone to watch over me and I certainly don't need anyone." She rolled onto her back, scowling at the ceiling.

The thief sighed heavily. "You have poison in your blood and a severe fever when it attacks. You do need someone to watch over you. And you do need me."

The Queen did not argue anymore, just scowled deeper—if that was possible. Her eyes fluttered and finally closed. Within seconds her breathing slowed and she was fast asleep, her small hands tucked up against her cheek.

* * *

Regina woke with a start, breathing hard, eyes wide in the darkness as she clawed to get the covers off of her. Her legs were tangled and she couldn't move, only whimper in the darkness as she tried to escape. Her head throbbed, her entire body burned. The fever was back.

Next to her, in the chair, Robin jumped awake, forgetting his promise that he'd stay up all night to keep watch over her. When he saw Regina struggling, he pulled the blankets off of her effortlessly and she sat, panting. Robin leaned closer and she felt a hand run through her hair comfortingly.

"Are you alright, Regina?" he asked. She could feel his breath on her face. He was so close.

Regina's breath momentarily hitched in her throat before she got herself breathing again. "I'm…I'm fine," she murmured. Then she closed her eyes again, but just for a second before popping them open. "I just had a bad dream, that's all."

"Do you want to talk about it?" the thief inquired. He stopped stroking her hair and ran his fingers up and down her trembling cheek. "Regina, you're burning up."

No matter how hard she tried to will herself, the Queen couldn't bring herself to stop Robin from stroking her cheek. "I…I was…it's nothing, I'm fine." But the images of little Roland engulfed in flames haunted her, and she didn't want to scare Robin with her nightmares, either.

"I'm going to go get Granny," Robin said and he started to stand but Regina reached out and grabbed his arm, actually sitting up in the bed as she clutched to him.

Whatever came over her, she wasn't sure. Perhaps it was her own paranoia, the dream making her forget her silent promise to herself. Maybe it was her fever, or the fact that it was the middle of the night. It could have been all of those reasons. But tears came to her eyes and she pulled Robin back. "No, stay," she whispered.

She caught a glimpse of his surprise as she moved over on the bed, allowing room for him, but quickly looked away. He slid into the bed next to her and pulled her close to him. Regina rested her head on his chest, pressed herself up against his side with her hands tucked against her chest. Robin ran his fingers through her hair, down her back, in small, comforting circles.

Her fear melted away and his touch stopped her shivering. Regina closed her eyes again and felt Robin place a kiss on the crown of her head before drifting off to sleep once more.

* * *

**A/N: So fluff was needed because I like fluff. So, there was some fluff in this chapter. Enjoy!**


	11. Chapter 11

Sunlight was shining through the vast windows of the chambers when Regina awoke. For a moment she forgot where she was and felt her heart catch in her chest when she found herself in the arms of a man. As soon as her moment of shock melted away, she remembered everything—how she was almost killed, saved by a thief, sickened from infection, and finally back home in the Enchanted Forest in the castle she'd lived in since she was eighteen. Most importantly, she was wrapped up in the arms of the thief who had saved her life.

Regina looked up at Robin, who lay silent and still next to her. Her head was still on his chest, her entire body pressed up against his. His hands were holding her close and one was tracing up and down her spine like he had been last night. As soon as she moved, the thief's eyes opened and he smiled down at her.

"Did I wake you up, Your Majesty?" he asked.

Regina shook her head. "No. I was about to ask you the same thing."

"I've been awake for some time," Robin replied.

The Queen turned over so that she was on her back, wincing as her head throbbed with the sudden movement and spots danced before her eyes. Her muscles protested, making turning over much more challenging than it should have been due to Regina's stiff body. And as she slid up so that she sat on her bed, her back expressed the same amount of pain as her limbs. Once she was positioned correctly she let out a sigh of relief and sat still, closing her eyes.

"You are in pain," the thief noted beside her. Regina had almost forgotten he was there. She gritted her teeth when she felt his arm slink around her waist and he pulled himself closer to her. His free hand brushed her forehead and her cheeks. "No fever, but it's left you achy."

Regina tried to scoot away from the thief but any movement shot a searing pain through her entire body and so she ended up just lying there, hands at her sides, not sure how to get him to leave. Perhaps her bitterness would get him to depart. "I believe you are mistaken," she said, sarcasm dripping from her tone. "I just decided to make unpleasant faces."

Her cold shoulder did nothing to move the thief. He simply chuckled at her, a light and carefree sound that almost made the Queen laugh with him, but she held it in and took him into a death glare. "Granny said you wouldn't feel well for a few days." He continued to laugh lightly as if he found her demeanor amusing.

Regina wanted to groan at that, spending more time in bed with an achy body and a burning fever. She just wanted to get better so she could go confine herself in some part of the castle where no one else ventured so she wouldn't have to be with the thief who sat beside her now. She kept it in, letting the scowl deepen on her face as she continued to glower at Robin.

"What's so funny?" she growled, crossing her arms over her chest despite the pain that shot through them when she moved.

His blue eyes twinkled in the morning sun as he turned towards Regina. "Milady, you don't have to be bitter. I know you like me," he taunted.

The Queen felt frustration simmering beneath her skin, hot and raging. A fierce blush worked its way to her sickly pale cheeks and she felt it swirling beneath her. "You are by far the most annoying imp in all the realms. Be gone!"

"Annoying I may be, but you like that, Your Majesty," Robin said and got up from the bed at Regina's request, perhaps seeing he'd pushed her a little too far. "I'm sure Granny is going to want you dressed and ready, so I'll go draw you a bath."

"Fine," snapped the Queen.

As he turned to the small room that branched off of the bed chambers, Robin turned to Regina and flashed her a big grin. "Make sure you wear something pretty."

Regina hugged her arms tighter against her and scowled, allowing a pout to overtake her lips. Robin stared at her a moment longer before disappearing into the other room.

* * *

The thief sat on the edge of the Queen's bed, admiring the balcony that sat on the other side of the chambers, overlooking the entire kingdom, as he waited for her to be finished with her bath. He'd sent her in the other room about an hour ago, but she still hadn't come out yet. Robin wondered how long it took a royal to bathe themselves but then he quickly reminded himself that Regina was not just a royal but a woman at that. Women always took longer than men when it came to cleaning themselves and dressing. Besides, Regina had to do something with all of that hair and the gowns he'd briefly caught her wearing in the past seemed like they'd be hard to put on.

He was still thinking about the Queen, and not just waiting for her to emerge from the other room. He thought of when he'd kissed her, how she had seemed suddenly so scared like some kind of wall had tumbled down, like he had exposed a very private and personal part of her. He still felt guilty for it, even if his passion for the Queen grew stronger every day. Robin then thought of the way Regina had looked at his son, little Roland, the way her face and her mood had changed in an instant at the sight of a child. She almost seemed relieved to be adored by a child. He thought of her last night, when she had her nightmare, how she was completely terrified, so terrified in fact that the wall she'd let down stayed down long enough for her to pull Robin in as her comfort before building it back up and booting him out in the morning.

Robin couldn't get those images out of his mind, that extra hour he'd stayed awake after the Queen, admiring the way she had nestled herself between his neck and chest, the way she breathed when she slept—through the nose and out the mouth. She had slept on her side the entire night, with her hands folded up in each other above her heart. He'd spent minutes on end admiring her long eyelashes as they stuck out from underneath her eyebrows, and he especially loved the way her ebony hair that smelled of cinnamon and apples spread out around her head, draping his chest and the pillows around them. She was so beautiful, he kept thinking, and she was so beautiful when she slept because she was so peaceful and quiet of mind unlike she was in her waking moments.

Eventually, the thief heard stiff footsteps coming from behind him and he turned to see the woman he'd just been thinking about. She wore a simple yet regal lacy black gown and her hair wasn't done up in an ornate manner. Some of the hair at the front of her head and been gathered back into braids and tied behind her. She bore makeup now, smoky eye shadow and red lipstick. Despite this change he was not accustomed to due to the past few days, the Queen still looked undeniably beautiful.

"It seems you took my advice," Robin said as he walked over to her and tucked a strand of wet hair behind her ear that had been sticking to her neck.

The Queen scowled instantly as soon as he said this. "Charm isn't going to work on me, thief," she told him bitterly and swatted his hand away. She crossed the room and stood on the balcony, overlooking the view Robin had just been admiring, but while he had been astounded, she stared at the scene with a frown.

Robin stood beside her and took in her profile. "I wasn't trying to charm you, Your Majesty. It was merely a compliment."

"Hmmph," Regina hummed and glanced at Robin a moment before averting her gaze once more towards the forest that outstretched for miles beyond their view.

Robin grinned over at her. "You never denied it, milady."

"What?" she asked, sounding rather irritated.

The thief nudged her gently with his elbow. Regina jerked her arm away from his touch, hissing as she caused herself pain. "That you like me."

She seemed to fidget uncomfortably before something inside of her snapped and she whirled to Robin. "You know, it's starting to get late in the morning. They're not going to serve breakfast forever. You should probably go."

"Are you sure?" Robin asked, but he knew the Queen was trying to wave him away.

She nodded. "Go on, be with your boy and your band of dirty outlaws. Granny promised she'd bring me breakfast."

Robin was hesitant but the growing look of disappointment on Regina's face made him turn around and leave. "See you later, Your Majesty." He grinned when he noticed she still had not denied his assumptions and trotted off, feeling confident that the Queen liked him since she had failed to deny it three times.

* * *

Regina sat on her bed for a few minutes, thinking of that aggravating thief. She couldn't get him out of her head—his tall, lean stature, the corded muscle she'd felt pressed up against him last night. His sandy brown hair that he always managed to have styled despite his lack of royal attire and those deep blue eyes she found herself getting lost in despite the fact that she could not love the man.

The Queen hissed, scolding herself mentally for thinking of the thief. She couldn't be happy. Villains never got to be happy.

_You deserve happiness, _a voice whispered inside of her. Regina tried but no matter how hard she did, the voice didn't leave, the voice that sounded of Tinkerbelle, Robin, Henry, and Snow all at once.

Regina was glad when she heard the wooden doors to her chambers open and Granny waddled in carrying a tray of food. The meal was large but Regina found herself only having an appetite for a small portion of her breakfast. About halfway through, Snow White entered through the chambers.

"Good morning, Regina!" she piped cheerfully, smiling at her stepmother.

The Queen glared at Snow White, eyes narrowing. "What are _you _doing here?" She turned to Granny. "What is she doing here?"

The old wolf frowned at Regina. "I invited her. I figured you could use a little more company other than that boy toy of yours that follows you around with eyes like a puppy."

"He's not a boy toy," the Queen snarled defensively, setting down her tray. She didn't feel hungry anymore. "He's a distempering outlaw and I can't stand being around him."

The widow and the princess smiled knowingly at each other. "C'mon Regina, he's kind of cute," Snow squeaked excitedly.

"He smells like forest!" Regina scoffed, folding her arms over her chest and scrunched her face up into a scowl. "Besides, I am not in the mood to gossip like little girls about boys. Please just go away. I don't want to talk to you."

Snow White sighed at the Queen and dipped her head. "Very well, Regina, but I think you should get to know the thief a little bit more. He seems nice."

"You've already ruined my life enough, Snow White. And now you certainly aren't going to try to find me love. If anything you'll just ruin it like you did the last time." Regina snapped and instantly felt a strong pang of guilt when she realized what she had just said.

The princess's eyes teared up and her lip quivered but she refused to let herself actually cry. "Well, then I won't try to help you. Sorry I bothered you. Good day, Regina."

With that she left and what she left behind was a scowling Window Lucas. "That wasn't very nice of you to say, Regina, after all the trouble she and the prince have put into you. Surely you could show a little more appreciation. She could have refused to look for you, she could have actually authorized that execution like in the past, she could have left you in the hands of that thief until you succumbed to your infected wounds."

"I don't need a lecture from you, old wolf," snarled the Queen and she hopped from bed, trying to escape down the hallway.

"Just where do you think you are going?" snapped Granny.

Regina cast a look behind her shoulder, looks that could kill. "It does not concern you. Leave me alone."

Granny frowned. "Get back here, girl! It's not safe to be using up all of your energy. You may feel fine, but you're still very weak and sick."

Regina didn't listen, she just waved off the old woman and stormed out of her bedchambers, down the hallway, and headed out towards the gardens, feeling a simmering rage bubble beneath her skin.

* * *

**A/N: School finally ended for me today so I've got plenty of time to write! Poor Regina...she's all upset and in a love-denying mood!**


	12. Chapter 12

Regina wasn't even sure of where she was going, she just had to get away from everyone. She wondered blindly through the halls of the castle, past several who looked at her with questioning. She ignored them, all except for an unpleasant scowl and kept going on, so fast she was almost jogging. Down this hallway, and then that, through that room, out another. She bit back tears, blinked them away and just showed the anger on her face as she kept going, getting further and further away from the castle residents.

Eventually, Regina found herself outside in the gardens. There was hardly anyone around and so she plopped down in the grass, back pressed up against a white gazebo. The sun wasn't hot and it was kind of chilly outside. The wind blew softly among the trees and butterflies flitted amongst the flowers that grew.

The Queen felt a lone tear escape and trickle down her cheek. Before she knew it, she had her face in her hands, biting her lips and tongue to keep from screaming, with tear after tear running down her face. It occurred to Regina after a minute of crying that she really had no idea _why _she was so upset.

It could have been that she was missing Henry, or that Snow White had decided that she wanted to befriend Regina and help her find love all of a sudden. Perhaps it was because she just felt so horrible, weak, and tired from sickness and infection. She could have been mad that no matter how hard she tried to forget, she still had feelings for that pesky thief and he knew it. He unraveled her and laid her out for the whole world to see—her weaknesses. Regina couldn't be weak. That was a lesson she had learned a long time ago. But, after a moment, the Queen soon realized that she was crying for all of these reasons tied into one.

"Queen Gina?" came a sweet and innocent little voice.

Regina looked up to see Roland standing in front of her with a concerned look on his face. When he saw that she had been crying he ran over to her and sat down right in her lap, looking up into her face with his dark eyes.

"Queen Gina, why are you crying?" he asked sadly, reaching up and wiping away a tear that slowly trailed down her face with a little finger. "Beautiful queens don't cry."

Regina felt a small part of her sadness melt away at Roland's question and she wiped away the rest of the tears on her cheeks and gave the boy a smile before wrapping him up in a hug. "Sometimes queens are sad, my dear, and then they cry. Besides, I thought you said I didn't look like a queen."

The little boy smiled softly in return. "You look like a queen now, just as pretty as daddy says. Why are you sad?"

"Your daddy said I was pretty?" Regina asked, quirking a brow and blushing slightly, although it probably didn't show up much since her face was already red from crying.

Roland nodded sincerely. "Yes. Gina, why are you sad?" he repeated his question.

The Queen took the little boy's hands in her own, running her thumbs over his soft skin. "There are lots of reasons why I am sad."

"Can you tell me? I can help!"

A breathy sigh escaped the Queen and she decided to give away one of her reasons, figuring the four-year-old would not understand most of them. "I adopted a little baby boy who was kind of like you, Roland. When we came back to the Enchanted Forest, he could not come and now he's very far away with his real mother. I miss him."

The son of the thief frowned and wrapped his small arms around the Queen's neck in a hug. "It's okay, Queen Gina. You'll see each other again, I know it. I miss someone too, my mama. She died when I was little but I never knew her. Daddy tells me stories about her sometimes and I wish I could see her."

Regina cheered up a bit at the boy's enthusiasm but she knew that she'd probably never see Henry again, just as Snow White and Prince Charming would forever be separated from their daughter, Emma, who happened to be Henry's birth mother. "Thank you, Roland."

The boy nodded and suddenly, someone called his name. He turned his head to see his father, Robin, heading towards them. Regina felt several emotions wash over her, something like fear and anger and anticipation all at once when the thief finally reached them.

"Roland," he said in a scolding tone. "How many times have I told you not to run off?"

"But, daddy, Queen Gina was sad," the boy protested as he clung to the Queen.

Robin glanced at Regina for a second but she refused to meet his gaze and instead stared at the boy in her arms.

"Well, Little John and Friar Tuck are waiting for you in the kitchens. Why don't you go find them," the thief suggested. Roland looked at Regina and frowned before hesitantly pulling himself to his feet and running off towards the castle doors.

"Bye, Gina!" he called and waved, and giggled when Regina waved back.

Once the little boy had gone, the thief turned to the Queen and she knew he could see the tearstains on her cheeks, her puffy eyes, and her flushed face. Sighing, he sat down next to her against the gazebo. Regina's muscles tensed when he pulled her close to him and he rested his chin on the top of her head. Her veins buzzed at this new touch and without thinking she felt herself melt into his embrace and rested her cheek on his shoulder.

"I hope I am not the cause of this," he said quietly. "You know I was just teasing you."

"I know," Regina said bitterly, feeling tears fill her eyes again but now she refused to let them fall. "That's not why I'm upset. I'm a little tougher than that, you know." It was only half the truth, for she found that Robin was one of the reasons she was in such a mood, yet it was not because of his teasing.

"Then what is the matter?" inquired Robin as he moved his hand to circle the small of her back.

Regina shook her head, swallowing the tension in her throat and blinking so tears would not fall. "It's complicated," she said, her voice coming out soft and it was almost a whisper, as if it did not belong to her at all.

The thief let loose a cumbersome sigh and the Queen grimaced as he kissed the top of her head three times. She shuddered despite her efforts, though. "I'm always here if you wish to talk about it," Robin said after a moment.

Regina did her best to compose herself, taking her time to release the tension from her muscles, swallow the lump in her throat, and clear the tears that distorted her vision. "I've just been through a lot. It's a bit overwhelming between losing my son, coming back here, almost getting killed…" she trailed off and looked up at Robin with watery eyes.

"A valid reason to be upset, then, I would say. You can cry, you know. I won't judge you," the thief said and stroked her hair which fell down her back. "Despite what Roland thinks, beautiful queens can cry and they sometimes need a shoulder to lean on, too."

As if that was some kind of invitation (which it really was) Regina felt large tears trickle down her cheeks and fall onto the earth below her. Her body quivered occasionally, but she tried her best not to make a show out of her sadness. Every time she shivered, Robin would hold her tighter against him or kiss the crown of her head.

It was about ten minutes before Regina found herself cried out. She wiped her eyes and sniffed a bit before looking up at Robin who gazed down at her with pooling blue eyes, as if he had been on the verge of crying himself, just seeing her so broken hearted. This surprised Regina. Nobody had really cried with her when the problems weren't their own, and so this was a first to see someone who cared so intensely that they would do such a thing. It left her staring up at the thief longer than she would have intended and he managed to brush his lips against her forehead before she could pull away.

Robin stood and took Regina by the arms to help her stagger to her feet. "We should probably get you back inside or you're going to catch a cold."

And if on cue, Regina sneezed, which made Robin hum his suspicious and he helped Regina inside.

That night, the thief lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep. He'd offered to watch Regina again but Granny had refused his offers—which had eventually turned into begs—and had sent him back to his own chambers.

Little Roland was next to him, almost as wide-eyed as his father, but Robin could see he was going to give out soon.

"Daddy?" his son said suddenly and Robin looked down at his little boy who stared up at him with wide eyes.

"Yes, my boy?" asked Robin as he turned over on his side to get a better view of his son. He kissed Roland's cheek and pulled away so he could answer.

The boy was quiet a moment before actually continuing with his question. "What did mama look like? You tell me stories but you never said what she looked like."

Robin frowned and thought a moment, gathering up a picture of Marian in his favorite moments, when she would smile at him while standing in the forest where the sunlight dappled her face. "She was very beautiful Roland. She had dark hair, like you, and you have her eyes as well, warm and brown. She had a smile that could light up the whole world."

His son seemed satisfied with the answer and Robin turned over. He stared at the ceiling again before closing his eyes. He was almost out when Roland's voice brought him back awake.

"Did mama look like Queen Gina?" he asked.

Robin found himself surprised by this question and he thought a moment, seeing how his son would have come up with a picture of a woman like Regina. "Sort of. Regina has black hair though, and Marian's hair was a dark brown. They both have pretty chocolate brown eyes, and gorgeous smiles. Other than that, they look very different."

His boy was silent again, but only for a moment as he mulled this over. "I wish Gina was my mama."

"Why?" asked Robin, a bit insulted that his son didn't want Marian as a mother. Then he reminded himself that the boy had never known Marian, for she had died just a few days after Roland's birth. He sighed to calm himself down and realized it was actually kind of cute how his son wanted Regina to be his mother.

_She certainly seems like she'd make a good one, _he thought, smiling as he recalled the way she had been hugging his son earlier that day with that lively smile on her face that not even he could bring out.

"She's nice, daddy. She loves me. She's the only person in this entire castle besides you and the merry men who wants to spend time with me," he answered.

"I suppose she is, Roland," Robin said, and chuckled slightly. "Now go to sleep. No more questions."

"'Night," Roland whispered and kissed Robin on the cheek, who returned the gesture with a hug.

"Goodnight."

And with that the boys slowly drifted off to sleep.


	13. Chapter 13

Regina couldn't help but lie awake for she felt that if she went to sleep she'd be haunted by another nightmare. Granny had refused to let Robin stay again that night despite his relentless offers but the old woman had made the thief so frustrated he'd ended up stomping out of Regina's bedchambers and had given up. The Queen didn't think she could fall asleep without him there—she liked to think he kept phantoms away when he held her in his strong arms. Certainly Granny couldn't comfort her in her sleep. The wolf was something she'd seen in her lucid nightmares than a comfort.

_Then again, you _are_ the Evil Queen and there's plenty in this castle who have nightmares about you, _Regina thought to herself, cringing as her conscious reminded her of her insufferable title she desperately wanted to let go of.

Once again, three words tugged at her mind, carrying the voices of so many that she loved. _You deserve happiness. _

"No I don't!" Regina growled under her breath and realized the words had escaped her mouth. Granny's eyes snapped open and she stared down at Regina with her cool blue gaze.

The old woman straightened in her chair. "What'd you say, girl?"

The Queen quickly shook her head and frowned. "Nothing, I said nothing. At least…Well, maybe I was talking in my sleep," she offered quickly and with the look she earned from Granny she knew that the older woman was not convinced with her lies.

"Go to sleep, girl. I know you've been up and staring at the ceiling for the past hour. You're sick and you need your rest," Granny insisted, and if it was even possible, her cold glare hardened even further and seemed to freeze Regina in its intensity.

The Queen indignantly crossed her arms. "I can't sleep," she finally said, finding herself to sound like a small child refusing to go to bed for her parents.

"Why not?" asked the old woman, reaching down to feel Regina's forehead and cheeks, shaking her head to confirm that the fever had not yet made a reappearance. Regina hoped it never did.

The Queen shrugged. "I…I don't know," she lied.

"For someone like yourself you make a terrible liar," Granny observed and Regina felt insulted.

"I'm not evil, if that's what you're implying."

The wolf shook her head. "Not at all, darling. I'm just saying that someone with a past like yours should know how to lie decently and you, girl, need practice. What's wrong?"

Regina sighed, knowing she would never get to sleep if she had to keep bickering with the wolf over silly things that shouldn't even matter to her. She fidgeted, turned over, and faced the old woman. "I keep having nightmares. Okay?"

"What are they about? If it's anything like the Burning Room nightmares, there's a way to fi—"

The Queen shook her head vigorously, groaning slightly as her head throbbed with the movement, as if her brain was drumming against each side of her skull. She let her head fall still, deciding against such movements for a while. "No, no. Not like that. I…It's dreams where, wh-where people I care about…they get hurt."

"Nobody's going to hurt us anymore, Regina. Rumplestiltskin is dead. Cora's dead. Those two freaks from the Land without Magic are dead. Peter Pan is dead. Who else can hurt you or your loved ones?" Granny asked. "Or any of us, for that matter."

"Me."

The old woman seemed to soften a bit at that pathetic answer. "Don't talk that way, child. You are not a villain anymore, no matter how others view you. The past is in the past. Walk in the present and think positively about the future."

Regina realized only when the old woman wiped away something wet from her cheek that she had been crying. The Queen gasped and quickly swiped at her eyes to get rid of any trace that she'd been crying. "That's why Robin wanted to stay so bad. He knows."

"About your nightmares?" Granny pressed.

The Queen nodded. "Somewhat. I never told him what they were about because they involved his son, Roland. But he managed to calm me down and he must've been as afraid as I was about having more dreams."

The wolf gave the Queen a knowing look and a small smile appeared on her usually grim face. At first a chuckle escaped her lips, but she subdued herself quickly and regained her composure before staring hard at Regina. "Is the Queen smitten with this particular outlaw?"

Regina felt a mortified expression leak onto her features. Did she make it obvious? She shivered and hunkered down shamefully in the covers like a dog trying to hide itself from an angry master. "I…I…"

"You are." Granny's smile grew a little bigger and she put a finger to her lips. "Your secret is safe with me, girl. Look, I'll make you a deal. You go to sleep and if you have a nightmare, I'll fetch Robin for you. Sound good?"

Reluctantly, Regina found herself nodding. "Fine." With that thought, after several moments, the Queen felt herself begin to drift off and after several minutes, she was fast asleep and slept more peacefully than she had in years.

* * *

After dropping Roland off with the merry men, Robin proceeded down to the stables to fetch his horse and do a bit of lone scouting around the castle. When he entered the stables, he was surprised to find the Queen there, stroking the nose of the black mare she had ridden into the castle grounds with Roland.

She looked different among the horses, as if she were at home, but also there was a lingering sadness on her face that Robin couldn't deny seeing. She looked beautiful, as always, with her hair falling loose around her, draped in a black cloak that hung around a black dress incrested with silver and diamonds. In her hand, she held an apple, giggling as the black mare gingerly took the fruit from her hand.

"Your Majesty," Robin said.

Regina jumped, gasping a bit, and held a hand to her chest. "Robin!" she hissed. "What are you doing here?"

"Going out for a little ride, you might say. What about you? Last time I checked, you were under strict orders to stay in bed."

The Queen lifted her head proudly at this. "Nobody _orders _a queen to do anything but herself," she insisted before turning back to stoke the mare's ears.

Robin sighed hopelessly and watched the strange interaction of Queen and horse. There was something puzzling about this, watching this interaction. "What's her name?" he found himself asking, gesturing towards the horse who now studied him with soft brown eyes, just like the woman stroking it.

"Magic," Regina replied and turned to Robin. The mare grunted and nudged the Queen's shoulder with her nose, displeased that her attention had been turned elsewhere.

Robin smiled. "I like it," he said and felt Regina's eyes on him as he made his way over to where his bay stallion stood in his stall, drumming against the stable doors with his hooves as he saw Robin approach with an excited whinny. "Monroe likes outings," he said with a grin.

Regina smiled a bit before stroking Magic on the neck and feeding her a second apple, which the mare took greedily and began to chomp on with her strong jaws. "Most horses do, you know. It's better than being pent up in their stalls."

"I suppose. Much like us, pent up in that drafty castle." As he got the saddle blanket ready, he turned to Regina. "Would you like to tag along? I sure wouldn't mind the company."

"I thought you said I was supposed to stay in the castle," the Queen argued and narrowed her eyes at the thief, her smile wiped clean off her face, although from the way the muscles on her face aligned and the way her lips twitched, he could tell it would not take much to let it resurface.

Robin grinned. "I suppose we can make a little acception. Just this once and then it's back to bed with you or I'll let Granny to your head."

"That old wolf? Ha, I could probably outrun her with my eyes closed," Regina insisted. "She'd never get my head."

The thief sighed. "You are a stubborn one, aren't you, Your Majesty?"

"And proud. Now hurry up and saddle your horse," she growled and began to fumble with her own horse's tack.

In just a few minutes, Robin's horse was ready to go and as he looked over at Regina, he saw she was having trouble getting the saddle strapped on to Magic, who seemed to be becoming very impatient with the Queen's fumbling around. The thief sighed and crossed the stable, entering the open stall.

"I think it's you who needs to hurry up. For someone who seems so comfortable around horses, you don't know how to saddle one," he observed, leaning against the barn door.

Regina glowered at him. "Thank you for the observation. I had a stable boy…" her voice trailed off sadly and her gaze softened. She quickly regained herself though, but it was hard to miss her walls cave in for just a moment. "…And men to do that kind of thing for me. I never needed to learn. Until now."

Magic huffed and chewed anxiously on the bit in her mouth, body twitching. Her ears flattened momentarily before pricking up again. Robin eyed the bridle and saw that it hadn't been attached properly. He rubbed the mare's nose a few times before unhooking the bridle from her face and removing the bit from her mouth. The mare whinnied and stomped a foot.

"Regina, stop," he instructed. The Queen pulled away from stroking the horse, watching carefully as Magic fidgeted around, repeatedly pounding a foot into the ground and making little puffs of dirt and hay fly a few inches off the ground.

"What's wrong with her?" Regina asked, tenderly reaching to place a hand on Magic's side. The equine snorted and her stamping hooves became more frequent and more intense.

Robin backed away, reaching out to grab Regina by the arm and carry her with him. "I have no idea. Magic doesn't seem like the temperamental type."

The mare flattened her ears against her head, scraped the ground with her hooves, and snorted. The other horses around her began to whinny and shy away from the outraged animal. To his surprise, the horse actually charged. Robin let out a yell, hauled Regina out of the stall with all of his strength, cringing as she cried out on the floor. Magic came charging, bucking, and neighing straight at him.

Robin tried to dive in the direction that he'd thrown Regina but Magic's hooves pounded into his chest and his lost his breath with an "_oof"_. The mare stopped kicking and instead, turned off in another direction, racing towards the fields where a few other horses calmly grazed.

Robin groaned, feeling a sharp pain seeping into his chest. Darkness spotted his vision and he went out cold.

* * *

Regina's head had smacked pretty hard on the ground and the first thing she felt even before the pain was anger at Robin Hood. He'd completely thrown her! She brushed the dirt off her dress, hopping to her feet to calm Magic, who was still stomping and snorting, finally running off towards the pastures where a few stable hands were spotting the incident and trying to get her under control.

It wasn't until the Queen had climbed to her feet that she saw Robin collapsed on the ground with blood staining his shirt around his chest. His breaths were ragged. A scream tore from Regina's lips and she threw herself on the ground this time next to Robin, shaking him, trying to get him awake.

A few stable hands had spotted them and were rushing over. "Your Majesty," one said and dipped his head to Regina. "I'll go get a medic right away."

The two boys rushed off, leaving Regina to cradle Robin's head in her arms. A tear fell down her cheek and without thinking she began to remove his shirt to see just how bad the wound was. When she tore away his top she gasped at the sight. There was a large hoof print on his chest, already bruised and swelling. There was a fair amount of blood from where Magic's horseshoe had created some nasty scratches. From the way he breathed, it seemed as if a few ribs were broken.

"Robin," she hissed, bringing her face down to his and brushing her lips against his forehead. "Please be okay. _Please. _This is what I meant…everyone I love gets hurt. Because of me."

She was so scared. The wound wasn't bad enough to kill Robin, or so it looked, but he'd be hurt, really hurt for a very long time.

It wasn't long before Doc, one of Snow's dwarf friends, came rushing over with Little John and another merry man on his heels. They knelt down next to Regina and the dwarf examined the wounds.

"He'll be okay if we can set those ribs back in place," Doc said. "We need to clean up the blood, too."

Regina suddenly remembered her magic. "I can heal him."

The three men looked at her strangely as she ran her fingers through Robin's hair. "Your Majesty—"

The Queen held up a finger. "I'll use magic. It'll heal him faster than medicine."

Before anyone could protest, Regina laid her hand on the thick muscle of Robin's chest and closed her eyes, focusing every emotion she possessed on the incident at hand, knowing she had to save him. A warm sensation flowed through her entire body, exiting through the fingers that rested on the thief's chest and she could feel her energy leaving as the ribs began to shift back into place and the broken skin formed together.

When everything had been healed, Regina pulled away, a heavy exhaustion coming over her and she collapsed on the ground next to Robin, her head swarming and her entire body buzzing. Hands lifted her but her eyes closed and she drifted off into unconsciousness before she realized what was going on.

_You deserve happiness._

_But everyone I love gets hurt._

* * *

**A/N: Uh-oh. Both our thief and our Queen are unconscious and at a loss for energy! Don't worry guys, it all gets better soon ;)**


	14. Chapter 14

When he came to, he felt a little pain in his chest, but it was nothing like he'd experienced before he'd gone unconscious. The first pain he had experienced after Magic had kicked him was so strong and overpowering but now there was nothing more than a small strain in his chest. When he moved away the fabric of his shirt to look at the place where he'd been kicked, there wasn't even a single scratch.

Robin found this odd. A force used against him like that would have left something and he probably would have gotten a few broken bones too, yet it seemed as if he had gone completely unscathed from the event.

The thief tried to roll over to stand but he noticed something was weighing him down. Not something but some_one _for when he moved, a displeasured moan escaped their lips. Blinking through the darkness, Robin found Regina lying next to him, curled up with her head resting on his shoulder. It occurred to him now that they were in her bedchambers and Robin realized that he must have been transported from the stables to here, as it had been the closest place.

Regina's eyes slowly blinked open and when she saw Robin her sleepiness completely melted away into relief. She gasped when she saw him awake and wrapped her arms around his neck. The thief was confused by her sudden embrace at first, unsure of what to do, before he eventually melted into her hug and wrapped his arms around her torso. His nose was greeted with the aroma of cinnamon, apples, and perhaps a bit of stable due to their previous location. After a few seconds, Regina pulled back.

Robin saw that she looked extremely tired, just in the way she held herself. It was as if she'd been zapped of all her energy. Really, though, it was he who should be tired, maybe even still unconscious from his injury. She even wore the same dress that she had in the stables and Robin realized he was in the same clothes he'd worn yesterday as well.

"I'm glad you're alright," Regina said with a small smile.

Robin nodded. "I'm fine, better than I thought I would be after being kicked by a horse. Regina, you don't look too well though. Is your fever back?" He pressed his hand against her forehead and her cheeks but she was normal temperature.

"It came back last night, I think. And I don't look well because healing you drains a lot of energy and it's not a magic I'm very skilled in," she replied and Robin felt his eyes grow huge.

"You healed me with magic?" he asked.

The Queen nodded and suddenly looked a bit uncomfortable. "Yeah. Doc said you had broken ribs and you were beat up pretty bad so I used my magic to heal you. Usually, it wouldn't make me so worn out but because I was already sick it backfired a little bit. I passed out and we must've ended up here." Upon seeing the thief's scowling face Regina shrunk a little. "You're not mad I used magic on you, right?"

Robin shook his head, trying his best not to look disappointed. "No, certainly not, but you paid a pretty big price. Regina, it sounds serious that you passed out from using magic. Why did you heal me if you knew the risks would be large?"

The Queen flashed him a large smile. "Because, if you were recovering from your own wounds, who was going to take care of me?" she asked. Robin should have known that would have been her answer and he rolled his eyes playfully.

"What about Granny?"

Regina's face scrunched up with disgust. "That old woman keeps badgering me about every little thing I do. She probably judges the way I blink." As if to prove her point, she blinked just then and Robin couldn't help but smile at her.

"I think you blink perfectly," he assured, listening as Regina chuckled.

"You think I do _everything _perfectly," she scoffed and rolled her eyes at him, trying to appear annoyed.

Robin threw his head back and laughed, as if this was the most preposterous thing he'd ever heard in his entire life when he knew for a fact that it was true. "I never said that, Your Majesty."

"But you never denied it either," Regina pointed back and poked Robin in the chest. Ah, so she was using his own words against him that he'd used the other night?

Two could play at that game. "And you never denied that you like me," he said, trying to bring up the subject again.

The Queen's face changed as she realized her mistake. There was a look of disappointment as well as the look that always crossed Roland's face when he knew he'd been caught doing something. There was perhaps a bit of anger, before it slowly returned into that same wry smile and defiant arms crossed over her chest. "If I didn't like you, thief, I would have strapped you to a post, incinerated you with a fireball, and I would have thrown your ashes into the wind."

"Graphic," muttered Robin, appearing disturbed by her description of what would have happened to him had Regina not liked him. "But I don't think you could do it."

"Why not?" Regina asked, her face forming into a scowl as she hugged her arms tighter around her.

The thief grinned. "Because you aren't the Evil Queen anymore."

"Hmm," Regina hummed and fell back on the bed with an exaggerated sigh.

Robin hopped up and stood before spotting a fresh pile of clothes folded neatly for him. Beside his pile of clothes was a dark purple gown for Regina. "Well, milady, it's a new day. We should probably get out of yesterday's clothes." With that he picked up his own pile and carried it off into the room that branched from Regina's bedchambers to change.

* * *

After Robin had departed she had gathered her own clothing and told him not to come back into the bedchambers until she called for him. She found a bath had been drawn and had bathed before putting on the dark purple gown supplied for her. Regina had also brushed out her hair and because she had no servants around to give it an ornate touch, she pulled it back into the simple braid she'd worn as a child, a child whom rode horses and fell in love with stable boys. The thought brought instant sadness and she almost took her hair down to do it again before realizing she'd kept Robin waiting for too long.

"Okay, you can come in now," she called and instantly the door opened.

The thief's face was not pleased when he stepped into the bedchambers. His hair was wet and Regina realized that there must have been a bath drawn in both rooms. "Why do women take so long to clean themselves? You are like cats."

"And men are like dogs because they don't care what they look like or where they've been," Regina shot back. She knew her smile betrayed that she was teasing.

Robin huffed, appearing frustrated at Regina's biting comment before stepping closer to her. He reached out and fingered her braid for a moment. "You didn't wear your hair down today, Your Majesty," he said in a distinct tone that sounded like disappointment.

The Queen crossed her arms over her chest. "Does that bother you?" she asked and raised an eyebrow at Robin. Though she wouldn't admit it, certainly not to him, Regina found it cute that he preferred her hair styled a certain way.

"No," he denied but a look from her made him sigh and give in. "I just like your hair down, that's all."

Regina giggled and instantly scolded herself for making such sounds. She took a step closer to Robin and tipped her head up at him. "And why's that?" she inquired.

The thief shrugged and Regina enjoyed that it was now he who looked stuck for once. She decided to savor the moment as his eyes flickered around unsurely before meeting her gaze. "It's so pretty when it flows loose," he finally said and she found that he'd just admitted the truth to her.

Maybe she could still play a game or two. With a relenting sigh, she undid the braid to let loose her hair, keeping the two French braids on top of her head and tied them back with a band. Daniel had mentioned that the hairstyle was his favorite and Regina recalled she hadn't worn it since the day he was killed by her mother.

"That's better," Robin mused and pulled the Queen close to land a kiss on the top of her head.

Regina shivered at how close they were, every inch of her pressed up against him. She could feel his breath on her face when she looked up at him and it came even closer as his lips began to close the space between them. Regina almost gave in but at the last moment she pulled away, ducking her head so that his lips brushed her forehead instead.

"We should probably send for Roland. He's probably worried sick," she whispered and squirmed away from Robin's grasp.

Regina opened the door to her bedchambers, eyes searching the hallway for a servant that she could catch the attention of. After a few moments of searching, though, there was a small squeal of delight and suddenly, something wrapped itself around Regina's legs. She looked down to see little Roland holding her tightly.

The Queen smiled and picked up the little boy, resting him on her hip. "Good morning to you, too, sweetie," she laughed and gave the child a kiss on the cheek.

Roland snuggled against her. "I was scared! I'm glad you're okay! Where is my daddy?" he asked and as soon as he saw Robin sitting on the edge of the bed he made grabby hands and writhed in Regina's hold. She let the boy down and he jumped into his father's lap, wrapping his small arms around Robin's neck.

"Hello, my boy," greeted the thief and kissed his son's forehead.

Roland's eyes sparkled. "They said Gina healed you, daddy. With magic!"

Robin smiled up at the Queen as she came to sit next to father and son on the edge of the bed.

"She did, Roland."

The four-year-old boy crawled from his father's lap and into Regina's the moment she sat down. "Thank you," Roland said and gave Regina a kiss on the cheek.

"I couldn't let your father be hurt, now could I?" Regina asked.

Roland opened his mouth to say something when footsteps entered the bedchambers. The trio turned around to see Granny and two servants carrying trays of food. One was given to Regina, another to Robin, and the last one, smaller than the other two, to little Roland.

The boy scrambled down to the floor to eat.

Regina looked up at Granny. "Thanks for bringing this."

"Yes," Robin agreed. "Do you know what happened after the both of us passed out?" he asked Granny.

The old woman nodded. "A few of the knights helped carry you guys up here. Doc and I tended to you for two days—"

"Two days?" Regina and Robin exclaimed together. Here they had both thought they'd only been out for one night.

The wolf nodded solemnly and went on. "Yes. Robin only needed a few doses of pain medication but Regina had the most of our attention. She ran three very high fevers that we had to bring down immediately. But, darling, your wounds are no longer infected and they've almost completely healed up, although I believe you will have some pretty nasty scars there."

Robin focused his worried gaze on Regina when he heard this news, but she refused to meet his eyes. Instead, she turned her complete attention to Granny. "What of my horse?"

"The stable boys got her under control and back into her stall. They looked her over and found that she'd had an infected tooth that was made worse when you fed her those apples and put that bit in her mouth. That's what caused her to freak out and kick our outlaw friend, here. We've got her on medicine though and she should be fine in a few days," Granny reported.

Regina sighed a breath of relief. "Goodness. Thank you for the report."

The old woman bowed and began to take her leave. "I'll let you eat in peace. See you later," and Granny was out the door.

With that the three began to break their fast with loaves of fresh bread, eggs, and bacon. Regina and Robin finished their meal within a minute and were left still hungry since they hadn't eaten in a few days.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry this update took a few days. Every time I tried to write I always got interrupted with something and yesterday my family and I took a trip to a waterpark. Anyways, there should be more to come and maybe we'll get to see that kiss soon!**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: I've been finding it too hard to switch between PoV's so I have resolved to make the rest of this story solely from Regina's view. Thanks and enjoy!** **Also there's a bit of a timeskip, but for a good reason… if you want to call it that.**

* * *

A month had passed since Robin had been kicked by the horse and everything had begun to fall back on track. Regina was no longer injured and her wounds had completely healed, although she still had some scar tissue along her chest where the whip had dug deep into her skin, but the fevers no longer existed and she had made a steady recovery.

In that month Regina had begun to not only heal but spend more time with Roland. The little boy came to visit almost every day while Robin and the merry men went off to hunt. During these times Regina would run all over the castle, chasing the small boy, and when Robin came back he'd always be fast asleep in the Queen's arms. The thief claimed the Queen cast a spell on her son every day when he left him with her, but of course this was only in a joking way. Nothing romantic had happened between Robin and Regina, either, which the Queen was happy but also disappointed with. The longer she could stay away from her "happy ending" she knew would never last long, the better, yet that part of her still longed for the thief in a way she had not wanted someone in a long time.

That morning, though, Regina had woken up to a knock on her bedchamber doors. She unfurled herself from her covers, blinked the sleep from her eyes and opened the door to find Snow White standing there in all of her annoying glory. The Queen placed her hands on her hips and stared down at her stepdaughter with displeasure.

"Snow, you woke me up," she complained, putting on her best annoyed face as possible.

The princess heaved a sigh and fiddled with something in her hands. "May I come in, please? I have some very important news I wish to share with you."

Regina stood in the doorframe for a moment with a scowl plastered onto her face, trying to decipher for herself if she should let Snow White in, but after a small groan she stepped aside so that the slightly younger woman could dash through the door. She sat herself on the small couch that was in Regina's chambers and the Queen joined her, recalling the days when the both of them were just children, one like the older sister and the other the younger, trying on jewelry. The Queen recalled briefly when the princess had pulled out Daniel's ring that hung on the golden chain and Regina had that vision that she had found terrible at the time of herself choking the young princess, when the first roots of her hatred for this woman had been planted, and now, while she still found Snow White annoying, though it was possibly just her mind telling herself this, she knew those roots had been uprooted and cast far away. She couldn't imagine trying to kill Snow now.

"Regina," Snow White said and it tore the Queen from her thoughts. Her gaze snapped towards the princess who was flashing her one of the biggest smiles Regina had thought she'd ever seen on her face.

In fact, it was such a radiant grin Regina couldn't help but smile in return. "What's got you shining as bright as the sun?" she asked.

Suddenly, it seemed as if the princess was shaking from excitement. "I wanted you to be one of the first to know and besides David and Doc, you are."

The Queen waited expectantly but Snow White was still smiling at her like the idiot she was. She leaned slightly closer. "Well, dear, spit it out," she said rather impatiently.

"Charming and I are having another baby," she squealed. "We're both so excited but a little nervous, too, David is worse than me, though. I just hope nothing bad happens this time that makes us have to send our baby…" Realizing she was talking to the very woman who had made that "bad" thing happen, her face changed. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that."

Regina shrugged. "It's okay. I…I caused you a lot of pain the last time. I should be the one who's sorry. I'm happy for you Snow, I truly am. But, what about Emma?"

At the mention of her first child, Snow White's eyes teared up a little as she laid a hand on the Queen's gently. "We can only hope that Emma and Henry will eventually find their way back to us, Regina. And what's the one thing we've always learned about our family?"

"_Our _family?" the Queen repeated with question in her voice. Was Snow White actually counting the woman who had tried to kill her for countless years apart of her family?

The princess continued to smile. "Of course. You're my stepmother and Henry's adopted mother, aren't you? Like it or not Regina, you're one of us. And the one thing our family is known for is always finding each other. That's the only thing that has kept me going all this time is putting trust in those words. They've proven true in the past, why not now?"

"I suppose," Regina muttered, removing her hand from Snow's and staring at the floor. "Everything in life just seems so bleak without him."

Snow White nudged the Queen and chuckled playfully. "What about Robin Hood and his little boy? Nothing is going on between you and the thief yet?"

"No," Regina snapped and focused Snow in a bitter gaze. "And nothing will ever happen. I'm a villain. I don't get a happy ending."

"Regina, the only thing preventing you from getting your happy ending is yourself," Snow pointed out.

The Queen shook her head, refusing to be moved. "If Henry isn't here then I can never truly be happy."

Snow sighed loudly and placed something in Regina's hands. It felt like paper. "Well, maybe this will help you start. Everyone's invited. We're having a ball in the baby's honor and I'd love it if you came. We are actually announcing the pregnancy then, so keep this to yourself until then. Besides, so far, you've missed out on everything else we've done with the inhabitants of the castle. I'm getting worried about you Regina."

The Queen looked the paper over and found it was an invitation to the ball Snow had just informed her about. It was in two day's time. "I'll think about it," Regina said after a moment. After all, this ball was in celebration of her step-grandchild whether she liked it or not. "That's weird to think about."

"What?" Snow asked.

Regina chuckled a bit. "I'm only thirty-six and I'm going to be a second-time grandmother."

"Not as weird as having a daughter who's the same age as you," Snow countered with a giggle of her own. The princess got up from the couch and placed a hand on Regina's shoulder. "Please, I'd love it if you came, but I'd enjoy it even better if you came with Robin. I gave him an invitation, too, and from the look in his eyes I got the notion he already had a date in mind."

Regina scowled at Snow White. "I doubt it," she said in a sing-song voice, but the only thing she doubted was that Robin _wouldn't _ask her, because she was pretty sure that he would.

"Well, then, Regina, I hope to see you at the ball," and with that Snow White skipped off and out of her bedchambers.

* * *

After Snow White's visit, Regina had fished through her closet, trying to find something decent to wear for the day. She was really going to have to get a new wardrobe change because all of her "evil queen" dresses just didn't seem to suit her anymore and all of them came with bad memories of the things she had done in the past. Eventually she had found herself in the simple white dress she'd first seen the Man with the Lion Tattoo in because its memories weren't as unpleasant as her other outfits.

Then it was off to breakfast. Only recently had she been going to the community breakfasts held in the castle and it had started about a week ago when Roland had asked her why she always ate in her bedchambers. Then, after explaining to him that she thought that nobody wanted her eating down there, he had told her that he did and so after several minutes of pleading she had promised that she would eat with everyone else the next morning at breakfast. When she realized she didn't get a negative vibe from anyone at the table—which consisted of Snow White, Prince Charming, Ruby and Granny, Captain Hook, Tinkerbelle, Baelfire, Belle, Prince Phillip and Princess Aurora, the seven dwarves, the merry men, Roland, and the remaining peasants who had decided to keep living in the castle—she had decided that she would start eating with everyone and had since that day.

Once breakfast had been finished, Regina found herself wondering outside to the gardens and she had no real idea as to why, but she was going there nonetheless. It wasn't until she was almost to the gazebo when she heard footsteps behind her.

"Milady!" called a familiar voice and Regina whirled to find herself face-to-face with Robin. His eyes narrowed curiously at her. "Wow."

"Wow, what?" Regina asked and put her hands on her hips as she stared up expectantly at the thief.

He continued to stare at her in silence for a moment, taking in every inch of her, which unsettled Regina in a way. "I just realized that I've seen you before."

The Queen tipped her head. "Of course you have, Robin. We've known each other for over a month, you know. I watch Roland for you almost every day."

"No, no I mean before that. A long time ago, before you gained your reputation as the Evil Queen. Back when you first married the King," he went on.

Still confused by what he was talking about, Regina brushed her hand over his forehead and cheeks, earning herself an irritated eye roll. "Well, you're not sick. Robin, I don't know what you're talking about."

"One night I was at a tavern and I had my back to the door. I heard it open and a breeze hit my neck. Since I was a wanted outlaw back then I turned to see who had come through the door to make sure that whoever it was, they were not an enemy of mine. I never saw her face, but as I turned I saw the fleeting image of a woman with raven black hair wearing that dress. Since that night I'd always kept my eyes peeled for that girl, but I never saw her again. Until now," he said.

"Seriously?" Regina asked, astonished, completely amazed that they had both seen each other before, just not directly. The Queen was glad Tinkerbelle had not been with her at that moment, because she knew the story of the lion tattoo would have been out of the fairy's mouth in a flash.

Robin nodded his head with sincerity, as if trying to get over the craziness of it all himself. "What were you doing there anyways?" he asked.

"Uh…a, um, friend of mine was trying to get me to go in there and say hello to a handsome man, but I chickened out and ended up running home," she responded and continued to walk again with Robin closely beside her.

"Cheating on the King, were we?" Robin asked, sounding a bit surprised.

Regina scoffed, memories flooding through her mind of that wretched, loveless marriage with a man who was old enough to be her father. "You actually think I loved him? King Leopold barely acknowledged me and when he did it was when he called for me in the middle of the night after he'd had one too many glasses of wine."

The thief cleared his throat after that. "Apologies, Regina. I'm sorry you had to live that way," he said quietly as they continued to walk.

"Well, I ended up having my Mirror kill the man and freed myself from him," the Queen said and even now she couldn't bring herself to regret that decision, although she did regret what she had done to the Genie, who later became her 'Mirror'.

"Your Mirror?" Robin asked, eyebrows raising.

"He made a wish that he could always be with me and he was cast into my mirrors so I started to use him as an advisor of sorts. But, when we returned I made sure he was restored to his original state—a Genie in a lamp and I have no idea where that lamp is exactly which is why he isn't around." After a moment of silence, Regina looked over at the thief who strode next to her with his hands clasped behind his back. "So, what brings you chasing after me?" she asked.

"Oh right," Robin said and gave a nervous laugh. "I guess I forgot my true purpose for coming after you. Your Majesty, you know how there is a ball in a few days…" he trailed off and glanced at the Queen.

Regina felt herself panicking. She knew that Robin would probably ask her to the ball with him but she had never actually prepared herself for when the time came. She almost stopped walking to freeze in her place but she forced her legs to keep moving despite the fact that they suddenly felt like they each weighed a ton. "Go on," she said in a strained tone and hoped that the thief didn't notice.

Suddenly Robin looked a little nervous and fidgeted slightly as they continued to stroll along. Regina noticed that their walking had led them out of the gardens and onto the forest trail that was just beyond the castle—the one she had tried to run away on with Rocinante all those years ago.

Why were these memories suddenly coming back to her? Perhaps she would never know.

"Well, I was wondering if you'd be going or not," the thief went on, flashing Regina a sheepish grin as if trying his best to appear like his old self while asking the Queen this very crucial question.

Regina gave a slight shrug of her shoulders, "I haven't really decided yet," she answered honestly. "Nobody has really given me a reason to attend." Obviously that was a lie. She wanted to go in honor of the new baby that would be announced, but she had to keep that secret for now. Yet she still wasn't sure if that was enough. After all, Snow White would certainly invite everyone from the Enchanted Forest as she had done at her wedding, which could result in some bad confrontations with others, and that was the thing Regina feared—facing those who still held a grudge against her.

"Perhaps I could give you one," Robin said and stopped, whirling to face Regina. He grabbed her hands in his and after a few seconds that seemed to be him trying to compose himself and work up the nerve to ask her, he eventually asked the question. "Queen Regina," he began, trying his best to sound like the nobleman he was not, "Would you do me the honor and attend the ball with me?"

He stooped into a bow and his lips gently brushed the top of her hand. Regina felt herself beaming at him, curtsey, and before she even realized it her mouth was opening and forming the words, "Yes, of course, Robin Hood of Locksley."

She paused as he pulled up and his gaze met hers, his brilliant blue gaze she kept falling more in love with every day. It occurred to her that all along she had prepared herself to say 'no' to the thief if he had asked, and yet she found herself obliging. And at once she wasn't sure what to do—lean in and kiss him, as his lips were threateningly close, or kick him for making her, once again, fall under his spell.

"Wonderful!" Robin said finally, and extended his arm, which Regina automatically looped hers through and they continued on their walk in the woods.


	16. Chapter 16

The ball had come sooner than what Regina would have expected but the day came upon her like a sudden slap in the face. When she had woken up that morning, everything outside of her bedroom had been total chaos, the hustle and the bustle of everyone trying to get things done for that night—cleaning, decorating, cooking—and there was so much work! Regina had gone to Snow to see if there was anything that she could do, but the princess informed her that most of the servants and knights had everything under control and that she had the day off to do whatever she liked.

Regina had spent her time in her room reading a book she had liked when she had first come to live in the castle and had been given free reign over the library. When she looked up from the pages, she realized that the sun was beginning to set, which meant the ball would start soon and more importantly, she had to prepare herself.

After taking what was probably the longest bath in the history of the world, Regina went to her wardrobe to try and find a dress that would suit tonight and that wouldn't remind people of her moniker she desperately wanted to rid herself of—the Evil Queen. Finding herself without luck, Regina eventually called for two people she never would have dreamed she would ask for fashion advice, but once she thought of this it was already too late, Tinkerbelle and Snow White were already in her chambers.

The Queen hugged the robe draped over her body tight and focused her gaze on two surprised girls standing in front of her. She must've looked completely stressed out because as soon as the princess and the fairy appeared in her chambers, Snow White asked, "Regina, are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine," she said in a snappish tone, trying to wave away Snow's concerns. "I'm having a bit of trouble deciding what to wear tonight. All of my clothes fit the Evil Queen, not Regina."

To see for themselves, Tinkerbelle and Snow White crossed the room to Regina's wardrobe full of her many dresses and began flipping through them. "Too black, too low-cut, no, not that one…it's got too many feathers! That one won't do either, too much dark lace. This gown has to be vibrant and colorful, it's a ball!" Tinkerbelle went on as she and Snow White continued to rummage through Regina's clothing.

The Queen sat down on her couch and sighed, frowning as the two girls went through her clothing as if they were at a shopping mall in a very distasteful store. Finally they turned to her with hopeless looks on their faces.

"Regina, there seems to be nothing in here that will do," Tinkerbelle explained, casting a look at the wardrobe with a disgusted look on her face. "Your sense of fashion is incredible but for this ball and for your change of alliance, I don't think it fits you anymore."

"That's why I called the both of you up here because I figured you could help out," Regina said impatiently, glaring hard at the two.

Snow White sighed. "What are we to do?" she asked Tinkerbelle.

The fairy let a sly smile slip across her face. "Magic! We'll poof a dress on her."

"I can make one appear," Regina offered and raised her hand to put a dress on her when Tinkerbelle grabbed her hand in midair, cutting off the magic from flowing through her veins.

She giggled at Regina's cross expression. "No offense, but I think you should leave this to me." Tinkerbelle stepped back and surveyed Regina with a deciphering expression, eyes narrowed in concentration. After a moment she raised a hand and twirled it in the air, expelling a cloud of green all around Regina.

When the cloud faded away, Snow White gasped in awe and Tinkerbelle clapped her hands. "Ah, yes, I knew that one would do perfectly! Regina, go take a look for yourself. I even did your hair and makeup, too."

"You certainly are the fairest of them all," Snow White commented as she had the day Regina had tried on her wedding dress that was for the king, the day when she found out that the princess had told her mother about her stable boy fiancé. The princess's giggles of delight made Regina feel a little nervous as to what she looked like.

Tinkerbelle smiled at Regina. "C'mon, Regina, go on. Faith, trust, and pixie dust. It never lies."

A bit reluctantly, hoping that dear Tink didn't make her look like a peacock, she walked over towards the mirror above her dresser and she had never been more captivated with her own looks as she had in that very moment. If she had a good sense of style, Tinkerbelle's definitely outweighed hers by a long shot. Starting with her hair, Regina saw that the fairy's magic had left most of it down, but the part that was up was pulled back into braids with intricate golden strings flashing in and out of her black hair. Her makeup was simply flawless, bringing out her eyes, cheekbones, and lips with beautiful shades of gold, greens, and pink for her lips. Her dress was a masterpiece, a flowing dark green gown with gold designs on the skirt and the strings of the corset around her waist. It was long sleeved, but it left her shoulders bare. It was easy to move in too, which she thought was good. And, on her feet, was a pair of golden flats that seemed to be sparkling with magic.

"Tinkerbelle," she gasped in awe at herself, turning from side to side as she admired the way the dress perfectly slid over her form, capturing it and perhaps enhancing it, too. "I look stunning."

The fairy smiled. "It's a good thing I've been talking to Robin. He never shuts up about you. I got it out of him that he adores your hair and loves it when you wear it down, and his favorite color is green, as if that was any surprise. I figured that he'd approve of such an outfit."

Snow White gave Regina a knowing grin. "So, you are going with Robin after all?"

The Queen turned to Tinkerbelle. "How'd you know I was going with Robin to the ball? I didn't tell anyone."

"Like I said, I've been keeping in touch with him," Tinkerbelle said and then looked out at the sky. "Well, I think I'd better go, I have to prepare for this ball, too, you know." With that, the fairy disappeared in a cloud of green smoke.

That left Snow White and Regina alone. "Regina," Snow said gently. "Do me a favor and don't push Robin away tonight. Let him in and enjoy yourself. Enjoy your happy ending." She curtsied slightly before disappearing from the room, leaving Regina to herself.

It was almost an hour's wait until it was officially time for the ball. Regina had spent some more time staring at herself in the mirror before eventually settling back down on the bed until it was time to head down to the ballroom. Robin had said he'd meet her there, and besides, since she was royalty and more or less still the Queen of this part of the Enchanted Forest, her arrival to the ball was going to be announced to everyone, so she had to be there early.

The Queen set down the hallway and eventually reached the doors that led into the ballroom. There, she found Snow White, Prince Charming, Prince Phillip, and Princess Aurora waiting as they were to all be announced into the ballroom as well. Through the heavy wooden doors she could hear the excited chatter of the guests and by the noise, there was a lot of them.

Soon, a voice called out from behind those doors, silencing the others, a voice that Regina recognized as Little John, probably because his was the loudest and deepest. He first called for Prince Phillip and Princess Aurora to walk through the doors and into the ballroom. The two exchanged a hug with Snow White and David before retreating through the opening wooden doors and into the vast room, where a bout of applause could be heard on the other side.

"Next we have Prince David and Princess Snow White," Little John's voice boomed again. Regina noted how David had refrained from being called Prince James in the Enchanted Forest, but she supposed that was because that wasn't his real name anyhow, that it belonged to his late twin brother.

Then, once David and Snow had gone through the doors, she heard her name being called. "Finally, we welcome Queen Regina," the doors opened a third time and Regina felt herself automatically walking through those doors and out into the crowd. Where the four princes and princesses had gotten a round of applause, Regina got nothing but excited whispers and chatters, as if everyone there expected her to cast another dark curse right before their eyes and rip their happiness away from them again.

The thought saddened her, but she refused to let it show as she joined Snow White and David on the other side of the ballroom. After she had successfully made her way through, a breath of relief seemed to escape through the crowd and finally, the festivities began.

Regina found herself looking for Robin, but so far, he was nowhere to be seen. All of his merry men were there but there was no sign of their leader. After about five minutes of searching every individual face in the ball room, Regina made her way over to the sidelines and braced herself against the wall as she watched everyone else mingle and dance.

It cut a hole deep inside of her, to see everyone else act as if they were all old friends, whether from the Enchanted Forest prior to her curse or during the near three decades they had spent, frozen in time, in Storybrooke. Everyone laughed, talked, ate, and danced with everyone but her. She sat, like a shadow, off in the corner and nobody even gave her a passing glance. Regina realized that she had probably caused pain to each individual who was present, and the thought that she had ruined so many lives put a heavy weight on her heart.

Lost in these thoughts, she had not heard someone approach her until they laid a warm, gentle hand on her bare shoulder. Regina turned around to find that it was Robin who had finally shown up. "You're here," she said with relief, pleased that now someone would finally spend time with her.

"Sorry, milady, I had to convince Roland to stay with Granny. He was pretty upset that he couldn't come," the thief said and took the Queen by the hand. Looking her straight in the eyes he said, "You look absolutely gorgeous, Regina."

It was like a flame ignited right there, starting in her cheeks and reaching from her head to her toes and her veins seemed to buzz with this heat the moment her cheeks flushed. Regina smiled her gratitude and admired the thief's looks as well. He wore the same hairstyle as he always did (but of course, men did that anyways), but he had abandoned his usual attire of peasant's clothing. He now wore a loose blue shirt underneath a leather brown vest, khaki breeches, and laced up boots. He certainly looked handsome. "And the thief cleans up nicely, too," Regina said and then cocked her head. "But, I wonder, can he dance?"

"Of course he can," Robin replied and led Regina out onto the dance floor.

He placed one hand on her waist and Regina, in turn, put a hand on his shoulder. Their other hands were clasped tightly together as they fell into the beat of the music and into the steps of the others who were dancing. Regina recalled that she hadn't danced in almost three decades due to her being frozen in time in Storybrooke, but as soon as they began to dance, everything her dancing instructors had taught her as a young teenager came rushing back and it came almost as a second instinct to her. Robin seemed to have no trouble keeping up either.

"I suppose he can," Regina said after a moment.

Robin smiled. "Just because I'm a thief doesn't mean I didn't pick up dancing as well, you know," he stated.

Regina chuckled and the dancing went on for quite a while and when the couple got tired, the stopped and went to grab a drink. As Regina was lifting a glass of wine to her lips, Prince Charming's voice boomed over the entire ballroom.

"People!" he called down, and the music stopped, as did the dancing. When everyone got quiet, Regina felt a rush of excitement flow through her. She supposed that this was the announcement of the baby. "May I have your attention for a moment?"

Citizens looked up at Charming, who stood above them on a balcony with a hand draped over Snow White, who held a hand to her stomach with the widest smile plastered onto her face. A few people seemed to get what was going on because excited whispers began to fill the ballroom.

"We have invited you to this ball to not only gather together and to have a good time but also to celebrate. Snow and I are expecting a baby," he announced and as soon as the words left his mouth there was a gasp, cheering, and wild applauding as everyone from the Enchanted Forest sent up their praise at the news of a new child entering the royal family.

Robin nudged Regina. "Did you know about this?" he asked with shock.

The Queen smiled. "Of course I did. I was one of the first to know," she answered him and began to clap in unison to everyone else.

After a few seconds of this, Charming thanked everyone for their congratulations and announced that the ball could continue. Robin and Regina finished their glasses of wine and as the Queen opened her mouth to ask the thief what he should want to do, he took her by the hand and began to lead her out of the ballroom.

"I want to show you something, come on," he said and led her out of the ballroom and down the hall towards the gardens.

Once they got to the garden though, Robin kept on going and eventually, the two of them were in the forest. "Robin, where are you taking me?"

The thief stopped and heaved an exaggerated sigh. "If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise," and then he kept leading her onwards. For countless minutes they continued through the woods, Regina being led by the thief until finally he came to a stop.

"Close your eyes," he instructed in a whisper.

"Why?" the Queen asked cynically.

Robin sighed playfully at her. "Just do it."

"Fine," Regina said and closed her eyes. Robin began leading her forward and she followed along, placing her feet carefully so that she didn't trip over anything, yet the ground seemed to suddenly get smooth.

"Okay," Robin said and led Regina forward one more step before letting go of her hand and stepping behind her. He put a hand on her shoulders and leaned close to her ear. "Open your eyes."

The Queen did and was greeted by a stunning sight. They were standing on the shore of a lake and ahead of them Regina could make out blankets sat on the sandy shore, lit up by a lantern. The sky was clear and cloudless, with a full moon and thousands of constellations in the sky that all reflected on the surface of the lake. It was so beautiful—magical even.

"Well?" Robin asked, and Regina realized she'd been staring with her mouth agape.

She quickly closed her jaws and turned her head to smile at him. "It's beautiful, Robin."

He took her by the hand again and led her towards the blankets. As Robin sat down, Regina did too, only realizing the moment her shoulder brushed against his just how close she had decided to sit. Taking this as an invitation, Robin wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her even closer until his warmth completely enveloped her.

Regina watched as the waves gently lapped at the shore and the wind blew softly in the trees surrounding the lake. The breeze blew past the two and tickled Regina's skin as it eventually faded away. "It's so peaceful here," she commented and closed her eyes. The only sounds were the breeze, the waves lapping at the shore, and the sound of Robin breathing.

The thief hummed his agreement. "I figured you might need to get away from the commotion for a little while."

"This is the real reason you were late, wasn't it?" Regina guessed and turned her head to meet Robin's eyes.

He gave her a knowing smile and nodded. "Yes, it was. Although, Roland still was upset that he couldn't attend the ball. But, I figured if I was going to do these kinds of things more often, I'd need to give it a strong base."

"The ball would have been enough, Robin," the Queen chuckled.

"You can't help a man for wanting to make a good impression," he said and stood up, offering Regina a hand. When she took it, he pulled her gently to her feet. "Let's walk, shall we?"

She looped her arm through his and they began to walk the perimeter of the lake. The Queen realized that she had never seen this place before, even though she had dwelled in the castle still visible over the tree lines for many years. "How come I've never seen this place before?"

"You must not have looked hard enough, Your Majesty. It may seem close to the castle, but it is indeed far away, between the forest trails and the King's Road. I happened to come upon it once a long time ago while I was visiting the area," he said and smiled. Regina knew what he was talking about—he'd found it while stealing from her in those days when she had wanted his head.

"Does this lake have a name?" she asked.

Robin shook his head. "No, but let's give it one." He thought a moment before finally throwing out an idea. "How about the Queen's Lake, because it's nearly as beautiful as you."

"Very funny," Regina chuckled, but having no other ideas that became the lake's name.

The thief stopped then and twirled so that he was face-to-face with the Queen and in that moment Regina found herself trapped again between the decision of whether to lean in and close the space between them or turn away from Robin and shut herself away.

_You deserve happiness_, said the voices again, all of the voices that belonged to people she loved, past and present. The voice of Snow followed with the words she had spoken to Regina before the ball, _Regina, do me a favor and don't push Robin away tonight. Let him in and enjoy yourself. Enjoy your happy ending. _

Her gaze flickered from Robin's eyes to his lips and back again, trying to imagine herself if she did give in, trying to picture his lips moving against hers, his strong arms holding her close. His voice cut through her thoughts, "Your Majesty?"

"Hmm?" Regina hummed, looking into those blue eyes.

Her breath caught in her throat when the thief's hands came up and cupped her face. This thumbs tenderly rubbed her cheeks. A part of her desperately wanted to pull away, but the voices kept telling her she deserved happiness and she couldn't bring herself to escape his caressing touch.

"May I kiss you?" Robin asked.

The Queen looked astonished. "What?"

Robin smiled softly. "You heard me, Regina. May I kiss you?"

Her mouth tried to form words, but she couldn't bring herself to speak. In fact, she wasn't even sure if she was breathing. It was as if her entire body had gone numb, but suddenly her head began to move, one small nod. A yes. She had given him permission.

The thief loomed closer, slowly, and Regina realized he was giving her time to shy away if she really wanted to, but something kept her frozen in place, anticipating the moment she had wanted to give into over a month ago when he had kissed her. Then, his lips met hers, soft and warm. She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around Robin's neck. The kiss was gentle at first, and then more demanding, but before anything got too heated, the both of them pulled away.

So Robin wouldn't see the unnecessary tears of happiness, Regina hugged him, kept her arms wrapped around his neck and buried her head in his shoulder. His arms wrapped around her torso and his chin rested on the top of her head.

Suddenly the embrace was different than it had been in the past when she had hugged him. _Happiness_. She felt…different. Her whole body seemed to tingle, focused intensely on her heart. When the feeling washed away, she realized her tears were gone. Regina held on to the moment as long as she could, associating happiness with the feeling of strong arms around her, a soft kiss on her forehead, the smell of the forest, and the sound of the waves drumming softly on the shore. Most importantly, the sight of happiness was Robin Hood, and his son, sweet little Roland.

"I love you, Robin," Regina heard herself say as she met the thief's gaze.

Robin brushed his lips over her ear. "I love you, too, Regina."  
**-**

**A/N: I told you the kiss was coming! Ahh, I have so many feels right now from writing that! Such a long chapter, I know. But, don't get too excited, I have a certain witch coming into play soon.**


	17. Chapter 17

After spending what seemed like hours wrapped in each other's arms at the Queen's Lake, Robin and Regina decided it was time to head back to the castle for it was past midnight and the ball would be ending soon. When the duo had arrived, they found that at least half of the guests had already left and those who remained were slowly making their way towards the castle doors. Once Robin and Regina reached the place where Snow White and the others waited, the Queen felt a number of looks being cast her direction, focused intently on the friendliness between the thief and Regina due to the way he had his hand on the small of her back the moment they arrived to say their farewells to the departing guests.

Regina noticed, with much annoyance, that the majority of these looks seemed to hail from Snow White and Tinkerbelle, looks that said, _I told you so. _The Queen remembered her conversations with both women about Robin Hood. She could only imagine the thoughts running through their minds.

Finally, every guest had left besides the few that still lived in the castle, but they were all returning to their bedchambers for the night. Snow and Tink kept looking at Regina and she knew that they'd probably be knocking at her bedchamber doors early in the morning to hear just what had gone on while the thief and the Queen had snuck away from the festivities of the ball. Regina surely hoped they would be mature if she even decided to explain the kiss that she and Robin had shared, but she got the notion from those big cheesy smiles and hopeful eyes that a little immaturity was going to be involved from the two girls.

A presence leaning closer to her drew Regina away from such thoughts. "Roland would love it if you came and said goodnight," Robin said.

Regina smiled and nodded. She hadn't gotten to see the little boy at all that day, and knew that what the thief said was true. As soon as she began to nod, she realized what time it was—the time that her Henry would have been in bed already for a few hours. "Shouldn't he already be asleep?"

"Roland doesn't sleep well if he's in anticipation for me to return home. He's probably bouncing all over the walls and giving Granny a hard time," the thief said.

Regina gave in after that. She so desperately wanted to see that little boy's smiling face. "Alright. Lead the way."

The two took off towards Robin's bedchambers and as soon as Snow and Tink seemed to figure this out, she could feel their eyes boring into the back of her skull, could picture those devious smiles on their faces. Goodness, they were so immature! Did they really think Regina was going to commit to that after sharing only one kiss with the guy? Well, she had been known for it in the past, taking a look at her days as the Evil Queen with her knights and her huntsman, but that was her no longer.

After turning down multiple hallways, they finally reached the large wooden doors which led into Robin's bedchambers. The thief quietly opened the door just in case his son was asleep but the moment the door began to open, they could hear the soft patter of feet on the stone floor and by the time Robin had the door opened, there stood little Roland, bouncing on his heels with a huge grin on his face. When he saw Regina, his smile only seemed to grow.

"Daddy, you're back!" he said and embraced his father quickly. Roland saved most of his affections for Regina and as soon as he'd finished expressing his fondness for his father, he instantly ran over to Regina and extended his hands upwards to be lifted. "And you brought Queen Gina!"

Regina lifted the boy into her arms, holding him up with her hip. Unable to resist his little boy charm, she gave each of his dimples a kiss. "Shouldn't you be in bed, mister?" she asked him.

Roland gave her a bashful look. "I couldn't sleep. The people and the music were too loud," he complained as Regina followed Robin into the bedchambers to find a very exhausted-looking Granny sitting on the edge of Roland's bed with a book in her hand.

"My apologies, Widow Lucas," Robin sighed as he helped the old woman to her feet. "Thank you for watching him."

Granny just smiled and rolled her eyes. "Your little boy is quite the handful. I'll leave it to you and Regina to put him to bed." With a wink at the Queen, Granny took her leave and shut the wooden doors behind her.

Once the old woman had left, Regina sat on the edge of Roland's bed with the boy in her lap. As soon as she sat down, he yawned and rubbed his eyes with his tiny fists. Robin came over and joined them, kissing both Roland and Regina on the top of the head. At this new gesture of affection that his son had seen from his father towards the Queen, he gave them both a questioning look for a moment before picking up the book Granny had been trying to read him.

"Can you read me my bedtime story, Gina?" he asked and looked up at her with those beautiful dark brown eyes, a full look of pleading on his face.

Regina smiled. "Only if you promise to go to sleep."

Roland nodded. "I promise," he said.

So the Queen flipped the book open to page one and began to read, finding it very distracting that Robin had taken to rubbing her back and lacing his fingers through her hair. She had to use every ounce of her strength to keep herself focused on the words in the book instead of the thief's touches that left her wanting. Luckily, this didn't go on long, because before Regina got halfway through the book, the boy in her arms slouched backwards against her chest and was fast asleep.

Moving slowly and carefully, Regina gathered up Roland in her arms and laid him down on his pillow, pulling the blankets up to rest underneath his chin. He fidgeted in his sleep but he never did wake up. She leaned forward and kissed the little boy's forehead.

When she pulled away she found Robin standing, and already beginning to take her hands in his. Regina gave him a glare she couldn't quite put meaning into. "You're very distracting," she huffed. "Could you not give me any space to read the boy a story?"

Robin brought himself close, wrapped his arms around Regina's waist and pulled her in for a long, yet gentle kiss. Electricity seemed to spark through her at the touch of his lips against hers, and her entire body seemed to freeze up as it had earlier, almost to the point that she was paralyzed. When he pulled away, this spell seemed to break. "You know you enjoyed it, Your Majesty." He kissed her once more, this time on the cheek and magic seemed to flow from the place where his lips seemed seared into her skin. "I'll see you in the morning."

Regina smiled and left the thief's chambers, making her way towards her own. As soon as she pushed open the door, the sight she saw did not surprise her one bit, Snow White and Tinkerbelle were sitting on the edge of her bed with the biggest smiles on their faces. Regina chose to ignore them in that moment, their eyes never leaving her as she shut the door to the small room branching off of her chambers, changed out of her gown, let her curls fall loose around her, and washed away her makeup. When she came back out they were still there.

"So, how'd it go?" asked Tinkerbelle and Regina could already feel irritation bubbling underneath her skin.

She gave the two women a testy look. "Fine," she snapped out as she joined them on the edge of the bed. Both girls had turned towards her with eyes as bright as the sun and smiles as big as the universe. "Would you two stop baiting me on the subject?"

Tinkerbelle shook her head. "Sorry, darling, but I am the one who first introduced you to the Man with the Lion Tattoo, and therefore, I must hear about it all."

A bit confused as to what Tink meant, Snow turned a questioning look to the fairy. "What do you mean?"

The fairy waved a hand. "Long story, so to shorten it up, I saved Regina from falling from that balcony," she pointed to the balcony that overlooked the kingdom, "and tried to show her a happy ending that ended…well, differently than your head on a plate. Pixie dust led us to a tavern and shone brightly on this man, who was Regina's _other _true love besides the stable boy. We couldn't see his face, but he had an arm outstretched and on his arm was a lion tattoo, the very one Robin has."

"Ah," Snow breathed and she seemed to get more excited with this news. "So you two are destined to be with each other, then."

Tinkerbelle smiled as if she had accomplished the biggest thing in the world. "It's fate. Regina, it was totally up to fate that Robin saved you, I realize that now! You can't escape your happy ending, and pixie dust never lies. So, please, _please, _tell us what happened."

Regina let out a long and exaggerated sigh. "Fine. But only if you two don't act like adolescent girls. We're all adults here."

Snow and Tink shook their heads, promising that they'd try their best to be mature about this, but Regina wasn't so sure they could do it. "Yes, yes, get to it already!" Snow said.

The Queen thought a moment about how she could put such a romantic night. "Well, uh, after we danced at the ball he took me to a lake and then he asked me if he could kiss me," she started.

At this, both Snow White and Tinkerbelle forgot their previous promises and squealed, grabbing Regina's arms. "Oh my gosh, Regina!" Snow gasped. "What did you say?"

If possible, Regina would have smacked her forehead in that moment but both girls still had a tight hold on her arms. After several tries of yanking, she finally got them free. "What happened to your promise?"

Tinkerbelle cleared her throat and sat back to give the Queen some breathing room. Snow White followed in suit, doing her best to remain calm when clearly the both of them were on the verge of dancing together in happiness that Regina had finally found something other than wallowing in her heartache to focus her life on.

"I…I couldn't really speak but I think I nodded my head yes," she said slowly, watching as the expressions on the women's faces went from excited, to mildly shocked, to absolutely radiating their joy. "And then, uh, we kissed."

Snow White and Tinkerbelle began a fit of uncontrollable giggling and a stern look from Regina slowly brought them back. "That's great, Regina, what was it like?" asked Snow.

"You two are like teenagers, I swear. You're both almost thirty years old, so act like it," snapped he Queen.

Tinkerbelle gave her a look. "Technically, fairies don't age. We're immortal. Anyways, go _on_! Tell us about the kiss!"

As she tried to explain though, she found she couldn't even open her mouth without completely reverting to the way she would have acted herself about such a situation as a teenager, found herself completely enthralled with Robin and his kisses just as she had been with Daniel in those first moments when they met and when they, too, had shared love's first kiss.

Relenting, Regina fell back on her bed with a moan of delight and buried her face in her pillows for a moment to try and compose herself. When she uncovered her face, Snow and Tink were giving her a surprised look, as if they never expected Regina to come apart like that about a guy in front of them. "It was…magical," she breathed, closing her eyes and remembering the scene almost as freshly as when it had truly happened. Suddenly she could feel his lips on hers, his strong hands cradling her face, the tears of joy that he had made her shed, knowing that in his arms she was home. "I've never experienced such a comforting sensation. I've never felt so happy."

Tinkerbelle leaned closer and rested a hand on Regina's arm. "That's true love, Regina. It's mending your broken heart."

Regina let out a sigh and sunk down into her pillows, only now realizing just how tired she was. As she yawned, both Snow and Tink hopped up and waved to her. "We'd better go," Snow White said and the girls headed towards the door. "See you in the morning, Regina."

As soon as they left, the Queen closed her eyes and fell asleep, her dreams filled, for once, of happiness—of Robin and Roland.

* * *

**A/N: Not a very eventful chapter, but I kind of wanted to build upon the relationship between Regina, Snow, and Tinkerbelle because Regina needs friends, okay? Be prepared for a lot more action next chapter, because Zelena is making an appearance and we'll have our own AU version of Wicked versus Evil!**


	18. Chapter 18

Her dreams had, at first, been filled with happiness but in those few minutes before she was torn from her sleep, her dreams turned to nightmares. She was thrashing around in water, evil laughter above her ears as she suffocated, hearing terrified shrieks and screams. When she jumped from her sleep, she realized that she hadn't been dreaming about the commotion coming from outside of her door. It was actually _there_.

With a gasp, Regina shot straight up out of bed, fumbling with shaking fingers at her blankets which had managed to twist around her legs. She squabbled around with her sheets before managing to get them off of her and half fell and half landed on the floor. Regina scrambled to her feet just as panicked knocks rapped on the door to her bedchambers, along with the familiar voice of David yelling her name.

Something was wrong. Terribly, terribly _wrong_.

Shaking away any last feelings of sleepiness which adrenaline helped rid Regina of, she dashed over to her door and opened it up. The sight that greeted her was nothing like she would have imagined and as soon as she saw it, her knees felt weak and her heart hammered in her chest so fast it almost hurt. She had to brace herself against the door to keep herself from falling.

There, right outside of her doors, the multiple lifeless bodies of those who had been living in the castle—knights, servants, inhabitants from Storybrooke who had not yet left for the villages, and merry men littered the ground with blood pooling beneath them. Luckily, a cursory check revealed that no one Regina cared for had not suffered a merciless fate, but if she didn't do something quickly, there was a chance that they would.

"Regina!" David called again and she looked over to her right to see him take the head off of some winged beast. The head rolled to her feet and she saw that it had the face of a monkey.

A _flying _monkey?

"_Regina!"_ David yelled again and actually had enough nerve to roughly jostle her arm.

She ripped free of his grasp and used magic to pin him against the wall. "What is all of this about?" she shouted over the sounds of men fighting beast and over the sound of death as those from each side fell.

"We don't know! They just ambushed us out of nowhere. We need your help to stop them before they kill us all!" he yelled, straining hard against her magic.

Regina let him drop to the floor and turned as a horde of the flying beasts came towards her. She raised a hand and felt magic flow freely through her veins. Something warm and tingling erupted in her hand and the reflection of flames in the flying monkeys' eyes showed a fireball clutched tightly in her fist. She reeled her arm back and threw the flames. The monkeys tried to get away but the trio was caught up in fire, their screams halted after a few minutes of useless thrashing as the flames licked up their bodies into piles of ash.

Energy had been released from her and Regina knew she only had so much fight in her. Magic had worked differently in the land without it and she was still trying to adapt back to how it worked in the Enchanted Forest, which took a lot of work. She hadn't been using her magic a lot because she knew of how it frightened others, but now it looked like she had no choice. She couldn't go on long though. But it was necessary she used it now. After all, Regina wasn't really sure how to manage a heavy sword or shoot a bow.

"Charming, to your left!" she called as, out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a flying monkey charging at the prince, it's yellow teeth bared and ready to kill. The prince caught the animal on the shoulder, and sliced a deep cut. The monkey screeched and backed away, where Regina finished it off with another fireball.

David stabbed at another monkey coming at his right. "Thanks!" he yelled over the noise of angered screeches from the beast.

Regina was glad when a bout of reinforcements showed up—knights and a few merry men, including Robin. The two of them locked eye contact immediately and reflected each other's emotions: the fear that one of them would end up seriously injured, or even killed, in this battle.

More flying monkeys streamed through the windows, a group of ten. All were huge and powerful, using not only their teeth, but claws as well as wings as weapons. Everyone locked into battle with these beasts and it often took at least two or three men to take down a single one, but her magic maintained to keep the battle against herself and another.

A monkey approached Regina, leaning forward on its limbs, hissing and baring teeth. Yet it did not attack, it just stared at her through beady eyes, its gray fur bristled like an angry cat's. It made noises at her, pounding its fists on the ground so hard it drew blood. Regina stood, perplexed by this odd behavior, and suddenly, she realized that all of the monkeys had stopped fighting. They were all doing the same thing, pounding their fists on their chests and on the ground, beating their wings, and screeching.

"Regina?" asked Robin and he took a step forward. There was a warning growl from one of the monkeys.

The Queen put her hand up. "Nobody move. Stay where you are. Don't even speak," she said and immediately Robin fell back into where he was standing, bow string still drawn back to his lips.

About a dozen monkeys were now standing in front of her, joined by a few from other parts of the castle. She was completely circled by flying beasts, none of which attacked, just rooted like a bunch of drunk men, lacking only the ability to speak a human tongue.

Suddenly, to Regina's surprise, there was a cloud of green smoke and the monkeys, upon seeing this, quieted down. In fact, they began to retreat, using the windows to fly off into the distance. The cloud disappeared and in its place stood a woman.

She had a similar form to Regina—slender build and about average height. She wore a black dress with a fashionable hat. An emerald necklace hung around her neck, as well as a pair of matching earrings on her ears. She had blazing red hair that was tied up and blue eyes that stared at the Queen with disgust. The worst part was the fact that she was bright _green_. Not like Rumplestiltskin, who was a murky shade of greenish brown in the Enchanted Forest, but as green as the grass and the leaves on the trees.

"Ah, I finally get to meet her, the Evil Queen," she exclaimed excitedly with an accent that would have been identified as British had they been in the Land without Magic. She clapped her hands together and smiled wickedly at Regina. "Do you know who I am, darling?"

The Queen shook her head and narrowed her eyes. "No, and I don't really care. What I do want to know is why you sabotaged the castle."

The woman made a face and then laughed as if what Regina had said was the most adorable thing in the world. "Oh, I'll get to that, but first, let me introduce myself. My name is Zelena and I'm from the land of Oz. There, they like to call me the _Wicked _Witch of the West."

The name struck no sense of familiarity in Regina, besides the mention of the land called Oz, and so she kept scowling, clearly unmoved by this woman's advances to be threatening. "Well, then, Witch, explain your purposes here or I'll light you up like a firefly." To show she meant it, Regina ignited a hand.

With a swirl of her hand, Zelena put the fire out and Regina bit her tongue hard to keep herself from gasping. "No need for violence, _yet._ I have come looking for my sister," the witch informed.

"And I assume that's your purpose here. You know, you could have come asking _nicely_, you know?" she said and crossed her arms over her chest to try and make it look like she wasn't upset that the witch had managed to put out her fire. "Who's your sister?"

"Why, I'm speaking to her!" When Regina gave the witch a surprised look, probably the expression she was going for, Zelena laughed again. "That's right."

"How's that possible? You're…green," Regina said and motioned towards the Wicked Witch's green skin.

Zelena gave her a look. "And you're rude. If you want to get technical, we're half-sisters. Same mother, different fathers. I was born first, by a year or two, maybe. How old are you?"

"And I'm the rude one," Regina muttered at her question, glaring hard at the green woman. "Thirty-six," she mumbled.

Zelena raised her eyebrows. "Ah, only a year then, _little _sis. You see, our mother, Cora, gave me away right after I was born. I was the daughter of a gardener, I would never become anything of importance other than the daughter of a miller's daughter. Cora gave me away because she had been betrothed to the man who made you queen of this part of the Enchanted Forest and he abandoned her after he found out of her pregnancy from another, from the tattlings of the birth mother of your stepdaughter, Snow White."

Regina refused to show her shock, but she was completely grossed out by that. Not only had she married a man so much older than her, but he had once been engaged to her own mother! How sickening! The Queen refused a shutter, and watched the witch intently as she continued to go more in depth with her story.

"King Leopold didn't want Cora after dear Princess Eva told him that she was pregnant with another's child—me. He revoked his betrothal to our mother and when I was born, she abandoned me in the forest to give herself her best chance. You. You were born from a bloodline of royals, you were her best chance at getting her what she wanted," Zelena explained as she paced back and forth. The rage was growing on her face and her fists clenched together. "To be Queen. Whereas I…I found myself swept up in a tornado and sent to Oz. I was raised by my so-called father, who later informed me that I didn't really come from Oz, that I was from another place. I sought out the wizard and he told me all about myself."

Regina scoffed. "That's the story you're going to go with? What are you really? What do you want?" She didn't want to admit that she believed Zelena, but she found herself having a hard time _not _believing the witch.

Zelena approached Regina, stood so close that the Queen could feel her wicked sister's breath on her face, hot and full of hate. "I have come to destroy your happiness," she chuckled, "if it is the last thing I do."

Regina felt her heart clench at those words, those very words that she herself had spoken to Snow White and Prince Charming on their wedding day. How Zelena planned on doing this, she did not know. The Witch turned and her gaze focused on Robin.

"Oh, Regina, it's not going to be a quick and easy destruction," she said and turned towards the Queen once more, gaze flickering between her and Robin, who still held the arrow up to his face with the bow. Zelena grabbed the Queen's face in her hand and Regina fought the urge to clamp her teeth down on a finger. "It won't be the easy way out that you took to rid Snow White of her happiness…and failed. No, this will tear your heart apart, expose your every fear, intimately hurt you in so many ways you won't think are possible. And when I am done, my sweet sister, there won't be a single thing in all the realms that you love or possibly could love."

Regina fidgeted in her sister's grasp, trying her best not to show her fear at this statement. "A little jealous are we? Tell me, Zelena, why are you doing this? Why do you hate me?" she asked.

"Isn't it obvious? You were born. You stole away _my _chance at life. You got to sit every waking moment in a castle with servants whereas our mother abandoned me and left me to live in a farm house with a father who was so scared of my magic, so scared of what I could do, yet scared me so much himself. He hated me, but it is not nearly as much hate as I feel for you," Zelena snarled. "You should know what hate feels like Regina. I know the hate that slowly seeps from your heart at the expense of that little brat who's mother cost both Cora and myself happiness. But now, I have a way of making sure I find happiness, by seeing you suffer."

The Queen shook her head, ripping free of Zelena's hold. "You won't succeed, you witch. I learned that lesson for myself. No matter how hard I tried, I could never defeat Snow White. Even the dark curse could not give me what I wanted for so long. Dear, this is just another lost cause. Good always wins."

"No, sis, _wicked _always wins," the witch laughed and waving a hand in the air, she swept Regina off her feet and sent her flying into a stone wall, laughing when the Queen involuntarily groaned out of pain. With that, the witch turned, made a broomstick appear out of the middle of nowhere, and took off through the sky and into whatever hideout she ensconced herself in.

Robin rushed over and helped Regina to her feet. "That was quite the threat," he said.

David and the others were already approaching. He turned to a knight on the left. "Have anyone not wounded begin to clean up this mess. Bury our men, burn the beasts. I want you to get Snow, we are to have a council meeting right away to decide how to stop this witch."

The knight nodded and turned away. Regina stared blindly after him, reliving her sister's words in her head. _I will destroy your happiness, _she had said. _Wicked always wins. _The Queen drew herself from Robin's grasp, already reverting back to how she had been before the kiss, before he had asked her to the ball, the Regina who knew she deserved no happy ending.

And now, someone had promised to take it away.

* * *

**A/N: So, as promised, Zelena is here! She's not going back in time or anything in this fan fiction, she's just going to be interested in taking away Regina's happiness, which is really going to be put in to play in these next few chapters. Also, be prepared, because some characters who haven't been in the story yet (but are in the show) might be showing up soon! Can you guess who?**


	19. Chapter 19

"Regina!" Robin called as the Queen broke free of his hold and made her way back into her bedchambers.

Regina could feel the eyes of David and the few knights left with him on her, but she didn't care. She was done. She was done with _everything. _Whenever something good happened to her, something always caused it to slip through her fingers, and now, Zelena had threatened to take away any possibility of her happy ending.

When she whirled to try and close the bedchamber doors, Robin bolted through at the last moment and stood in her room with his arms crossed over her chest. Regina paused and pointed out of the door. "Go away. I don't want to talk to anyone."

"Well, you know you're going to have to come out for that council meeting, right? They're dealing with a witch and they're going to need your help because you're the only one here who knows anything about magic. I just wanted to make sure you knew that," Robin told her in a stern voice so unlike his gentle words he had spoken to her the previous night.

The Queen slammed her door shut, feeling anger burning inside of her. She swallowed the lump in her throat and sat down on her bed, holding a hand up to her head, which she had smacked against the wall when the witch had thrown her. Hissing in pain, she held a hand up and sealed her wounds together with magic. "I know that, but I could at least get a few minutes of alone time. I was just thrown around like a ragdoll, you know, and I haven't exactly had the greatest night of sleep," she snapped.

Robin sighed and crossed the room, sitting down on the edge of the bed next to Regina. She refused to meet his gaze, even though she could feel him staring right at her. "What's the real reason you want to be alone?" he asked.

The Queen bit her bottom lip between her teeth hard, forcing away a sob. Tears leaked from her eyes though and she clenched her fists when one slipped down her cheek and onto her nightgown, splashing her knee. Regina knew Robin saw that tear, and the several others that quickly followed due to the intense way he watched her.

"I can never be happy," she eventually spat out, burying her head in her hands so he would no longer see her crying. "Every time I find someone who makes me feel like I'm on top of the world, it always gets ruined. _Always. _Now, someone has threatened to take everything away, everything I could possibly love."

The thief scooted closer to her and she could feel his presence, the warmth he provided when he threw an arm over her shoulder and hugged her close to his side, the tender kiss he planted on her temple. He gently moved her hands away from her face and lifted her chin so that she looked at him, so he could see the tears that flow like a river down her cheeks. "I won't let that happen, Regina."

She tore her gaze away from his and clenched her fists harder, so hard that she could feel her nails biting her skin. "You don't understand, Robin!" she cried. "She's going to take away you…and Roland. This is what I said would happen. I told you that I wouldn't be the only one hurt. Now, not only am I going to pay the price for it, but so are Roland and you! She'll hurt you, maybe even kill you."

The thief drew her closer to him in such a tight and reassuring embrace that she almost stopped worrying. "Not if we stop her, Regina. I know we can do that." He captured her lips in a passionate kiss.

The Queen pulled away after a moment and nuzzled his neck with her nose. Her worry almost completely washed away with his touches, but it was still lingered in the pit of her stomach, churning and cold because despite Robin's reassurances. Someone was going to lose something in this battle with the witch and it was most likely going to be her. "You're too much of an optimist for your own good, _thief_," she sighed into him.

"And you, too much of a pessimist, Your Majesty," he shot back in a teasing manner. Regina chuckled but only slightly and laid against him, enjoying his closeness and the way his hand traced up and down her spine as it always did when he was comforting her.

There was a knock on the door before David swiftly opened it. Regina and Robin turned to a very surprised looking prince. Upon seeing the closeness of the thief and the Queen, his cheeks blushed bright red as the rest of his face paled. "I'm sorry, was I interrupting something?"

Regina adopted a scowl, doing her best to look menacing, even through her tears. "Don't you wait for someone to open the door for you, first?" she snapped. "What do you want?"

The prince cleared his throat and attempted a weak smile despite what he had seen. His eyes flitted from Regina to Robin to the bed they were sitting on. "Council meeting. We're gathering behind the throne room. We could really use the both of you there…unless you had more important things to do, then we can wait for—"

"That won't be necessary," she interrupted. Regina held up a hand and unfurled herself from Robin's arms, standing and smoothing out her nightgown. "We're coming."

David nodded silently and turned on his heels, walking away as quickly as he possibly could, or so it seemed. Regina chuckled as he left and Robin came up behind her, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Well, he seemed a little _surprised,_" he commented, and seemed to be biting back his own laughter.

The Queen huffed playfully and began to walk. "Come on, Robin, before he comes back," she said.

The two of them reached the council meeting around the same time as everyone else. People were seating themselves in chairs around a large, round table. The room was completely empty besides this table yet torches and pillars filled the room where furniture did not. Regina and Robin took up two vacant chairs and sat in silence as everyone else got seated.

Snow seemed to be having a moment for as soon as everyone sat down, she ran her fingers over the table and smiled. "It feels like forever since we've been in here. The last time we were in this room was to discuss the magic wardrobe." She patted her stomach, for the last meeting, Regina assumed, had been when she was with child the first time…with Emma. "Now, we have a new threat."

Everyone stared around, faces tired from lack of sleep and fighting, still in their nightclothes. David stepped up and looked at everyone seated at the table which consisted of himself, Snow White, Regina, Robin Hood, Little John, Prince Phillip, Princess Aurora, Red Riding Hood, Granny, Belle, Baelfire, Captain Hook, Blue Fairy, Tinkerbelle, some of the knights and merry men.

"As you are all very well aware, a witch who called herself Zelena, the Wicked Witch of the West, sent a horde of her flying monkeys into the castle just a little less than an hour ago. I'm sorry to say that many died and they will be dearly missed, but we must move on and vanquish this threat because she has vowed to hurt someone, to harm in every way possible to do so," David announced. His gaze focused on Regina. "She wants to hurt Regina."

Immediately there was an uproar as several knights pounded their fists on the table. "Let her have Regina then! That Queen has caused the lot of us more trouble than she's worth—she enacted the dark curse which plagued us for twenty-eight years. Who's to say that she won't actually join forces with this witch and curse us all again?" one called, focusing his gaze on Regina.

The Queen stood, leaned over the table, a snarl on her face. Robin placed a hand on the small of her back, urging her to sit back down, but she couldn't hold her rising temper. She had to let some steam go. "Watch how you speak," she growled. "I have renounced my ways as the Evil Queen but that doesn't mean that I won't have your head for speaking about me, in front of me, in such a disrespectful manner!"

"Enough!" Snow White shouted, and that seemed to startle everyone in the room, for she hadn't typically been one to be upset so quickly before. Her gaze flashed to the knight, a sign of warning. "Sit down and hold your tongue," Snow snapped and pointed towards the door. "All of you hold your tongue or we'll banish you to the farthest parts of the Enchanted Forest with the ogres if you don't. We _are _helping Regina and anyone who does not wish can leave right now."

With that, three of the ten knights gathered got up and left the room, grumbling and snarling at one another with poisonous looks at Regina. No one else moved and slowly, Regina sunk back into her seat, her fists clenched, her teeth still gritted, a wave of heat rushing through her entire body as she tried to reign in her anger, which proved easier than possible as she stared around the room at the countless others who were willing to help keep her—and her happy ending—away from the Witch. Robin's hand, which comfortingly fled to hers was a big help as well.

David cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "We need to come up with a plan that will ensure the defeat of this witch and make sure that we don't lose anyone in the process. This is going to take a lot of work, as many of us have seen that Zelena is a very powerful woman in the arts of magic. So—"

"Rumplestiltskin!" Belle piped up suddenly. Everyone turned to her and even Baelfire had an expression spilling his surprise at her sudden outburst. Clearing her throat, realizing she had spoken up before her time, she went on a bit more timidly. "Bae and I have been talking…we're not exactly _sure _if he is dead. There's always the possibility that the curse saved him from actually dying. If we could go to his palace, we could try to find answers, maybe a way to find him, a key to where he is at."

Baelfire, realizing what his father's girlfriend was saying, turned to David and Snow with hopeful eyes. "She's got a point. My father could very well be alive and if not, there must be a way to revive him."

Regina shook her head and she gazed sadly at her adopted son's father. "You can't bring back the dead, not without a big price," she said, sadly, remembering the day when Dr. Frankenstein had tried to bring back Daniel, when all her fiancé had ended up to be was a mindless monster, and she'd had to kill him herself…for the second time. "But I say it's worth a shot. They're right. Rumplestiltskin could be alive. Besides, we're going to need magic to defeat Zelena. She's a powerful sorceress and it's going to be the only way to bring her down. If I could visit Rumplestiltskin's palace, I could find some spell books, maybe some information on Oz and the witch herself."

"I could join this expedition. My merry men and I, we dwelled in Rumplestiltskin's palace for a while after the first dark curse was broken and we were unfrozen in time. I know his palace like the back of my hand, every trap he set through the curse," Robin spoke up, sounding hopeful, as if he wished to return to this place he'd once called his home.

David turned to Snow White and she nodded. "Well, then it looks like we'll have a trip to prepare for. We need to try and see if we can't get Rumplestiltskin back. We also need to find any information on this witch and how to defeat her, which I believe Regina can take care of."

"Wait, sir," the Blue Fairy spoke up and left Tinkerbelle's side to hover over the table and face the prince. "Rumplestiltskin and Regina both possess dark magic. From my experiences in the past, most dark magic cannot vanquish another. If magic is the only way to defeat the witch, then you're going to need light magic."

Prince Charming nodded. "We can send the fairies with the dwarves tomorrow to mine some fairy dust—"

The Blue Fairy shook her head and Tinkerbelle now joined her side. This time, the green fairy spoke up for her superior. "What the Blue Fairy is trying to say is that fairy dust isn't strong enough to defeat the Wicked Witch. We're going to need something a little more powerful. The product of true love."

Snow White gasped and put a hand to her mouth. David's eyes grew wide. Regina's heart gave a slight flutter of hope, thoughts of her son filling her mind. Was Tinkerbelle actually proposing…

"We need to bring Emma here, to the Enchanted Forest," the Blue Fairy said and everyone's suspicious were confirmed. They were going to have to bring home the savior.

"But how?" Regina asked, realizing she was echoing thoughts that had rushed through her mind just then. "There's no other way into the Land Without Magic. There's no beans, nothing. The only way is the dark curse, and I'm positive that there isn't a single soul here who wants to go through that again."

"That's not entirely true, love. About the beans, I mean," said a suave voice and Regina looked over to see Captain Hook smirking at her. He sat up straighter in his seat. "I have a friend who lives up a beanstalk, a giant by the name of Tiny. We're…friends, you might say. He tended to a magic bean garden once. Perhaps I could strike a deal with him. He may have a few beans that I could use to slip in to the Land Without Magic, grab Emma and Henry, and slip back into the Enchanted Forest."

Regina knew who Tiny was. She had met the giant back when Cora was still around, wreaking havoc on Storybrooke. She had used Tiny, who also went by the name of Anton, to try and destroy Snow White and Prince Charming, another plot that had failed. "Tiny is not too fond of humans," Regina pointed out. "He'd probably step on you and then we'd be nowhere."

"He's had a change of heart, believe me," Charming said and he turned to Hook. "Emma and Henry have no memories of any of us, though. How will you manage to get them here if they don't know who you are?" he asked sadly.

Captain Hook looked over at Regina and the fairies that still fluttered in their small, shiny forms over the table. "Very simple. I believe a little magic can cure that. I'll need a few memory potions. Regina? Girls?" he asked the fairies. "I think I'll leave the three of you to that."

"Blue and I can take care of the potions. We'll need fairy dust for it though," Tinkerbelle offered and smiled to Regina. "The Queen will already have her hands full doing her homework."

"So does this mean we're abandoning the plan to find Rumplestiltskin?" asked Belle with a hurt tone as she looked up once more at Charming and Snow.

Charming shook his head. "Of course not, Belle. You'll travel with Baelfire, Regina, and a few of the merry men to his palace. Even if Rumple himself cannot defeat the Wicked Witch, he knows the most about magic out of everyone here and will be a great help to us, if we can get him to cooperate that is."

"Regina should cast a protection spell on the castle, as well as his. It'll keep us all safe from the Witch," Snow White said suddenly.

Regina just shook her head. "It won't work. The most it'll do is keep the monkeys away but if Zelena ever wants to attack again, she can easily tear it down. We're half-sisters, and any magic I create, she can destroy. Vice versa, once I get the hang of how it works here in the Enchanted Forest again," she told Snow White. "That's another reason why we need Rumplestiltskin. He can put up spells that she can't tear down. The fairies might be able to cast a protection spell though," Regina pointed out. "It's going to take a lot of fairy dust, which is why I would only do so if necessary. Let them make the memory potions first, and then I would suggest gathering dust so they can put up the spell. If I'm not here, I doubt Zelena will have anything to do with you guys, anyways."

_At least I hope so, _she thought. Regina wasn't sure if Zelena had intentions on destroying Snow White and Prince Charming. She could barely call herself friends with the couple, so she hoped she'd leave them alone. Then, a thought that had not occurred to her before sprouted in her mind.

If the witch wanted to destroy anything that made her happy, that meant that the moment Henry came to the Enchanted Forest, he was going to be in danger. She felt panic seize her and did her best to breathe as best as she could, but she could already tell she was getting a few concerned looks from Robin, Snow, and Tinkerbelle. They didn't say anything, which she was grateful for. She didn't want to discourage anyone from bringing them home. After all, she missed her son, she just didn't want him to be hurt because of her sister bent on revenge. Besides, they needed Emma here. She was the only hope of destroying Zelena so that Henry would no longer be in danger.

"So, it's decided then?" Snow White asked.

Charming nodded his head. "Yes. In two day's time, Belle and Baelfire will go with Regina, Robin, and his merry men to Rumplestiltskin's castle so that they can look for a way to bring Rumple back and defeat the Wicked Witch," he said. "The dwarves will take a trip down to the mines tomorrow and will gather fairy dust so the fairies can begin to work on a memory potion. Hook, you'll talk to Tiny and see if you can get a few magic beans. Then, once we get the memory potions made, Hook will go find Emma and Henry, get them to drink the potions, and transport them back here. Then, we'll go from there on how to defeat the Witch as we should have answers by then. Meeting dismissed. Everyone go back to bed, we'll get started come tomorrow."

Regina quickly got up from the table, a worry that almost hurt beginning to fill the pit of her stomach as she made her way back to her bedchambers. She was almost to the doors of her rooms when she heard a voice calling her name and turned to find Robin coming after her. She continued her way into her room and he shut the doors behind them.

"Regina, are you okay?" he asked.

The Queen knew how miserable she must've looked. She was not only exhausted, but scared that she would lose everything she had come to love—Robin, Roland, and if they managed to get him to the Enchanted Forest, Henry. She didn't want to lose any of them, and just hoped Emma could defeat Zelena before the opportunity arose. "No, I'm not," she admitted and hung her head.

Robin pulled her into an embrace. "You're worried about the witch's threats, aren't you?" he asked.

Regina nodded, holding back her tears with all of her might. She felt them edge away as she hugged Robin back, wrapping her arms tightly around him and feeling his strong ones hold her close. "I don't want her to take you or Roland away from me…and I don't want her to hurt Henry either. Or anyone else for that matter."

Robin lifted her chin up with his fingers. "That's not going to happen, Your Majesty. Everything will turn out alright. We'll defeat Zelena, you'll see. You'll finally be happy." He kissed her forehead. "I love you," he said and his lips found her mouth.

The kiss started out soft, just a small brush, but then Regina pulled the thief closer to deepen the kiss. She didn't want him to leave her. She wanted him there, always. The Queen gasped for breath, but she couldn't stop herself and it seemed as if Robin was lost as well. Eventually, he backed her up to the wall, trapped her there, ran his hands from her cheeks and down her side. Regina let out a moan, found her hands at the buttons of his shirt, trying her best to undo them.

Robin moved from her lips to place a line of open mouthed kisses on her neck and eventually reached her shoulders. Regina finally managed to unbutton his shirt and discarded it to the floor, running her fingers over the hard muscle of his chest and stomach. The thief began to kiss her mouth again, picked Regina up in his arms and placed her in the bed before sliding in himself.

Were they really going to do this? Regina briefly thought as she broke away from Robin's lips for a moment, panting. He stopped, hovering over top of her, blue eyes focused intensely on her brown ones.

"Regina, is everything…?" he trailed off when she put a finger to his lips.

She shook her head at him. "I never thought I'd have this," she whispered, still trying to catch her breath. "I never thought I'd have you."

With that his lips crashed against hers once more.

* * *

**A/N: I don't like writing sex scenes so, yeah, I left it off there. But tacos...**

**Anyways, some of you guys guessed right! I'm wanting to bring Emma, Henry, and Rumplestiltskin into the story, but does that mean they'll actually appear? No. I'll leave you guys with some hope though, but I'm not going to give away any of my intentions. This story is also going to take a very interesting twist here in a few chapters, but it's the good kind...sorta.**


	20. Chapter 20

When she woke up, the sun was high in the sky and Regina knew that it was well past noon. She still felt exhausted after last night, between staying up late for the ball, fighting flying monkeys, staying up longer to discuss a plan to get rid of the Wicked Witch, and what had occurred last night between herself and Robin.

She drew the covers up around her tightly, knowing she was without clothes. When she turned over, she felt the thief stir beside her and kiss her bare shoulder, then her neck, and finally his lips found hers. He held her in a long, gentle kiss and she smiled when he pulled away.

"Good morning to you, too," she mumbled, reaching her arms up to rub her eyes and cover her mouth when she yawned.

Robin chuckled. "It's a little past the morning, Your Majesty," he said as he blinked sunlight from his eyes. "We must've slept in. I bet the Charmings won't like that."

"Ah, who cares about them," Regina huffed, although she was only joking. She smiled playfully at Robin. "After what took place last night, I think the both of us needed some sleep."

"To what event are you referring to?" the thief asked and raised his eyebrows, earning himself a playful bat on the arm from Regina.

The Queen bit her lip. "You know which one, thief," she told him and climbed out of bed, shivering as the cool air hit her naked body. Regina wrapped her arms around herself.

"Where are you going?" asked Robin, still curled up in the bed.

"To get dressed."

Not waiting for a response, she stiffly made her way across the bedchambers, wincing at the pain that overtook her entire body. Last night had definitely been eventful in more than one way, and it was no surprise to her that she was a little hurt now. Finally reaching the other room, she drew her own bath and hopped in to the warm water, letting out a sigh as it loosened her aching muscles and lapped at her sweaty hair.

Regina closed her eyes and relaxed a moment before scrubbing down and eventually drying off. She picked out a maroon colored gown that she owned, one of the few that didn't look like the Evil Queen would wear it and put it on, remembering to leave her hair down because Robin had informed her that he liked it that way over a month ago. She applied light cosmetics, equivalent to how she would have done her makeup in Storybrooke and made her way back into the bedchambers.

Robin was already dressed and ready for the day. He stood once more, gazing out at the horizon from the balcony in Regina's room. The Queen joined him, pressing herself close to his body as they gazed out at the view of the mountain and forests beyond. Regina found her eyes wondering to the spot where, nestled beneath trees and hills, was the tavern she had first caught a glimpse of the man beside her in.

"When I first moved into the castle I spent hours just looking over this balcony," Regina heard herself say and smiled. "It was the only place that I could feel free, overlooking the world."

Robin sighed and his arm slinked around Regina's waist. He kissed the top of her head and continued his sightseeing. "It's such a beautiful view. What did make you feel so imprisoned to this place?"

"It was mostly my mother," Regina said and heaved a shaky sigh as she tried her best not to cry. "She cast a spell on me so that I could never leave the kingdom without the King by my side. I couldn't run away. I'd always be confined to the places where Leopold could always find me, and so I could not run away. Luckily, Cora's spell broke when I cast her through that looking glass, but I still never managed to find the chance to run away," Regina said and pointed to a mirror which sat in the corner of her room. "I felt so imprisoned because I had to live with the person I hated most in this world, always there to constantly remind me of what I had lost. And her father…oh, I hated him almost just as much as I did his spoiled daughter. I didn't love him, and he didn't love me. He was still wallowing in his own loss for his wife. The only times he would tell me that he loved me were those horrible nights that I was brought to his bedchambers and left barely able to walk the next morning."

As terrible, nightmarish thoughts went through her head, Regina buried her head into Robin's shoulder, biting her lip so hard she almost made it bleed as she refused to cry out. Her fists clenched as she forced the thoughts away. Robin turned to her and wrapped her up in an embrace so secure, Regina's oncoming tears completely melted away. "I'm sorry, Regina," he murmured. "Nobody should ever have to feel enslaved to such terrible people."

"I never wanted to be queen," she whispered. "I never wanted to be _her_, either. The Evil Queen, I mean. The woman who turned out to be just as bad as her mother. I just wanted to be Regina."

"And Regina you can be," Robin assured. "You have a clean slate, milady. The moment you stepped onto the soil of the Enchanted Forest, life was wiped clean. You always have a chance to start over."

Regina heaved another shaky sigh, trying her best to open her mind and believe Robin's words. She turned her head to gaze out at the place where she knew the tavern still stood. "There was only one time that I felt free in this place in the past."

"When was that?" asked Robin.

Regina pointed towards the area of the tavern. "One night, I was visited by Rumplestiltskin as I was eating my dinner. I forget what he even said, but I know that I was just so angry and sad all at once—at him, at Snow White, at King Leopold, at my mother. I stormed back into my room, to this balcony, and just punched and punched at that railing, until on one of my blows, it fell loose and I tumbled down to the ground with it. Inches before I collided to my imminent death, something stopped me in midair and I looked up to see Tinkerbelle," she explained.

Robin looked at her questioningly, wondering where this was going, but she continued all the same. "After she saved my life, the fairy and I began to talk. She began to speak of my happiness, and I told her about my loveless marriage with the King and his daughter whom I wanted dead. Tinkerbelle told me I could find happiness again. That night, she used pixie dust and a trail of it led us to a tavern," she pointed then, to a small valley hidden by trees where there was a village. "When we got there, Tinkerbelle pointed through the door at the place where the pixie dust had landed—on a man."

At this point, Regina grabbed Robin's arm and began to trace the outline of the lion tattoo with her finger. "She showed me a man with his arm outstretched towards the bartender for a drink and on his arm was this lion tattoo. She told me that whoever that man was…he was my true love, my _other _true love besides Daniel and most importantly, my soul mate. Tink told me that all I had to do was go in there and introduce myself and leave it up to fate to work things out. When she left, I opened the door to the tavern, feeling as if I could finally be free. I don't know what came over me though, but as soon as I opened the door I felt this…looming fear, and I turned away and slammed the door without a look back. I ran all the way back home to the castle and never tried to search for my true love again."

"He was…he was me?" Robin asked, watching intently as Regina continued to trace the tattoo with her finger. "That means…Tinkerbelle was your friend who told you to go say hello to the guy. And I was the guy."

Regina nodded and looked up into Robin's eyes which seemed to be bright with happiness. "I didn't want to tell you at first because I didn't know how you'd react."

The thief put his hands on the Queen's waist and pulled her in for a passionate kiss. "I would have been made the happiest man in the realms."

Regina was pulled into another hug and she let herself, relishing the thought that any moment she spent with Robin could very well be the last, depending on when and how Zelena would deal with the destruction of her happy ending. Those thoughts scared her senseless, but for some reason, in Robin's arms it was as if magic flowed through one and to the other, and she couldn't bring herself to be as fearful as she probably should have been. With him, all her fears melted away and his touches made it feel as if everything was going to be alright.

He continued to hold her and she him as she rested her head against his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart. It occurred to her that their hearts thumped on the same beat, as she stopped and focused on the sound of her own heart beating inside of her. It was in that moment when she realized that her heart was aching. Regina gasped and pulled away from the embrace.

"Regina?" Robin asked questioningly and knelt down beside her as she slowly dropped to the ground, holding her chest. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head, breath hitching in her throat as her heart beat intensified the way it had when Robin had kissed last night at the ball. Summoning magic as best as she could she reached into her chest and pulled her heart out, gasping at the pain it caused to wrench her organ from her.

Regina's eyes widened and she gasped at what she saw. Her heart…it was different. "Robin!" she breathed, still unable to believe it. "The darkness, it's going away."

Her heart was no longer veiled in black, but the glow of it was stronger than it had been before. It wasn't completely red but at least one third of the darkness had faded. Regina held the heart in shaking hands. That's what had hurt so much! It was her evil undoing itself. She smiled, perhaps one of the biggest grins she ever had and felt tears of joy leaking down her cheeks.

"I told you, Regina," Robin said as he pulled the Queen close to kiss her forehead. "You're not the Evil Queen anymore and you _do _deserve happiness."

With that, Regina put the heart back inside of her body and as it connected again with her emotions, a lump formed in her throat and tears just cascaded down her cheeks like a water fall. This was not out of sadness though, no, she was most certainly not upset about this. Regina was happy, oh so happy that she was beginning to return to that girl she had been before Daniel died.

_Love isn't weakness, _she told herself, shaking her head and smiling as she laid against Robin's chest, chuckling as tears ran down her cheeks. Could this really be happening? Was this real? _Love is strength. Love is good._

_Love is good. _

_I am good._

Regina hadn't lived a happier day in her entire life like she was now. Even with the thoughts of Zelena's threat that constantly went through her mind, she couldn't bring worry to come no matter how many times she told herself that she needed to be scared for Robin, Roland, Henry, and herself. All she could think about was the fading blackness on her heart, how her many tries to be good was finally paying off and her evil was undoing itself.

Everyone seemed to notice a change in the Queen's behavior for the rest of the day as she passed through the halls to sort out traveling details, she got smiles in return. A few people closer to her even commented, and Regina had just told them she finally felt a nice change coming along in her life. She knew she'd have to speak to Tinkerbelle sooner or later and had actually gone to find the fairy but had been informed she was down in the mines with the dwarves, Blue, and a few other fairies.

The day had died down and finally, the sun was beginning to sink over the trees. Regina had spent her last hours of the day playing with Roland while Robin spent some time with his merry men to discuss who would be going to Rumplestiltskin's palace and who would be staying to help guard Snow White and Prince Charming. Roland seemed overly thrilled to have the company of Regina with him.

"Do you know what daddy told me last night, Gina? Before the monkeys came?" he asked and looked up at Regina from his spot on the floor, racing figurine horses across the ground.

Regina, who sat nearby on the ground with Roland, looked up at the little boy. "I thought you promised to go to sleep for me," she reminded with a giggle but then tipped her head at him. "What did he tell you?"

"I was but I woke up because I had a bad dream." Roland gave her this beautifully joyful look and a large grin overcame his entire face, right down to the look in his eyes. "Daddy told me that he fell in love."

The Queen raised her eyebrows at the little boy and couldn't wipe away that smile that had been on her face since she'd ripped out her heart and found it to be healing. "Really? With who?"

Roland got up from the ground and abandoned his toys, coming to sit in Regina's lap. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed the top of his head. After chuckling, he responded. "He said she was the most beautiful girl in the castle. He told me to guess and I said you. Daddy said I was right."

"I love your father, too, Roland," Regina said, once more tearing up because of her joy that the two boys—father and son—had brought her. "And I love you."

Roland smiled up at the Queen, his eyes full of longing, perhaps for the mother he'd never known. "I wish you were my mama, Gina," he sighed and leaned his curly head of hair against her chest.

"I wish I was your mama, too, my brave little boy," she cooed, letting out a contented sigh. Everything seemed so perfect if you left out the fact that Zelena had threatened to take it away and that Henry wasn't around. Speaking of which…Regina looked down at Roland with all seriousness. "That witch is kind of scary, huh?"

"I was scared last night, Gina, but I tried to be brave," whispered Roland. "I heard so much screaming. I didn't cry though, I didn't want the monkeys to find me."

"You're very brave, just like your father," Regina told Roland as she picked him up and sat with him in the rocking chair that was in his chambers, watching through the windows as the last bit of sunlight faded. She knew Robin would want his son asleep when he got home, and so she'd do her best to put him asleep. "I need you to be brave for me, okay? Until we can defeat Zelena, I need you to be a very brave little boy, can you do that for me?"

Roland looked up at Regina and nodded his head twice. "I can."

"Good. Zelena is a very bad woman…Roland, she wants to take away everything that I love and that includes you and your father," she explained, feeling tears drip down her cheeks as she told little Roland this. She wanted him to know the truth, before it was too late. "I'm going to do everything I can to protect you and your father, but I just need you to do me one favor and be my brave little knight, okay?"

Roland saw her tears and some of his own formed in his eyes. He reached up and kissed Regina on the cheek before nestling up against her with his head in the crook of her neck. "I promise, Regina, I'll be the bravest knight in this castle."

"Very good," she whispered to the little boy as she heard him yawn and continued to rock him in the chair. Then, Regina did something she hadn't done in a long time. She began to hum a little lullaby, a song her father had often put her to bed with.

It only seemed to be minutes before Roland was out like a light, but Regina continued to hum into the night, until the very moment when Robin opened the doors quietly to find Regina with his sleeping son in her lap. He snuck through the door and planted a kiss on Regina's head, and then on Roland's cheek. The little boy stirred but he didn't wake up.

Regina stood carefully to not disturb the boy and laid him down in his own bed, pulling the covers up over his body. She was about to turn and go when Robin gently grabbed her wrist.

"Would you like to stay here tonight?" he asked.

Regina found herself immediately nodding. Her own bedchambers were so lonely without Robin around to wrap his arms around her at night, and so she obliged immediately, sinking down into the covers next to Robin as she rested her head on his chest.

"Roland told me something today," she whispered, looking into his eyes which still were a bright blue even in the darkness. "He told me that a certain thief was in love with a certain Queen."

"He was not lying," Robin said and kissed Regina on the cheek. "I am very in love with you. And he is too."

Regina chuckled softly. "The Queen is in love as well," she murmured.

"She also has a beautiful singing voice," Robin said, "which she should use more often."

The Queen smiled and snuggled closer to the thief. "I didn't even know you heard that. I haven't sang since Henry was about Roland's age. It's been some time ago," she informed Robin.

"Daddy? Gina?" a voice called.

Regina turned over on her side, away from Robin, to find little Roland standing at the side of the bed with his little body already wriggling into the covers.

"My boy, what are you doing?" Robin asked.

"I had a nightmare," he whispered.

"Ro—"

"Robin!" Regina scolded and opened her arms so the boy could curl up against her. He curled up with his head nestled in the crook of her neck, just as he had done when they'd been sitting in the rocking chair. "It's okay, my little knight, you're okay."

"Gina, I dreamed the Witch was trying to kill you," he sniffled.

Regina hugged Roland close, feeling an icy fear settle in the pit of her stomach and churn violently. She turned cold from head to toe at Roland's dream and held the little boy tighter to her. Robin must've felt her tense beside him because he turned over and wrapped his protective arms around Regina and Roland.

"Don't worry, Roland," Regina heard him say. "I won't let anything happen to Regina or to you."

"And I won't let anything happen to you or your father," Regina vowed.

"I will be the bravest knight in the castle," Roland whispered. "The Witch won't hurt either of you."

Regina began to cry, not from her fear, but from the voices of Robin and Roland, vowing that they would protect her and each other, and that they would all be safe and sound. Maybe the plan would work and they would all end up okay. Regina definitely hoped so because she had never felt this much love for anyone before besides Henry.

With those thoughts, sleep found her.

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**A/N: Well, I gave myself feels with that one. I love Robin/Regina/Roland bonding time.**


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: I just wanted to thank all of you for the wonderful reviews I've been getting on this story both here on this site and on Instagram. It really means a lot to me to hear how much you appreciate this, and it's my muse. So without further ado.**

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Regina woke up dreading the day and there was a weight of fear that sat on her that she couldn't force away. Her entire body felt cold and a never ending shiver seemed to go up and down her spine. She couldn't bring herself to eat breakfast either, for her qualm had put an ache in her belly, one that churned and made her feel sick. Regina knew what she was scared of, it was an inevitable answer. She was scared of traveling to Rumplestiltskin's palace that day, searching through books for hours on end to try and pinpoint the Witch's weaknesses so that she could be defeated. She was scared of Henry coming back, giving the Wicked Witch one more person she could harm, and she was fearful that Robin or Roland would be whisked away from her life in the blink of an eye because this witch wanted to ruin her happy ending.

There was a knock on her bedchamber doors and Regina knew who it was so she let them in. It was Robin with a bowl of soup in his hands. After she'd woken up, curled up in Robin's arms with her own tightly clutching Roland, she had complained that she hadn't been feeling well and so the thief had taken his son down to breakfast to be handed off to one of the merry men until it was time to go later. Robin had sent Regina to her own bedchambers with the promise he would return.

During that time Regina had bathed and had put on an outfit capable of traveling, although she was having a hard time fastening it in the back with no servants to help her do so and when Robin came in she was a bit flustered.

"You don't look well, Regina, are you sure you're okay?" Robin asked as he set down the bowl of soup on her bed stand. "I can request that we hold back another day if you like."

Regina shook her head. "I'm fine, just scared." Her eyes seemed to betray she was telling the truth for the thief relented. She had her hands behind her back, trying to fasten her gown. Robin watched with a bit of amusement as she grunted in frustration. Finally, she looked up at him. "Can you fasten this?"

He crossed the room, and stood behind her, his hand brushing her hair off her back and down her shoulders. When his fingers brushed her skin, Regina shivered, especially when they skimmed her back. Robin leaned close to her ear. "Do I have to, Your Majesty?" he asked in a whispered tone and kissed the side of her head.

Unable to help herself, Regina leaned back against the thief and he held her in his arms. "What time do we leave?" she asked in a mumbled voice.

"In about three hours—at twelve," Robin responded and kissed the top of Regina's head. "Why?"

"Just curious," she responded and gasped a little as the thief's hands moved and in a second, her gown was on the ground and the cool morning air blowing in from the balcony cooled her bare skin. "Robin…" she scolded breathlessly and turned around to face him.

His lips crashed against hers and he backed her up against the wall. Regina, in retaliation, unbuttoned his shirt and cast it onto the floor next to her dress, moaning as the thief's hands roamed up and down her body. Robin's kisses went from her mouth, to her neck, and then her bare shoulders.

"Robin," Regina whispered, cupping his face in her hands.

He stopped, breathing hard against her. "We don't have to, Regina," he said with an edge of disappointment on his breath.

Regina just shook her head, running her fingers along the corded muscle of his chest. She brought his lips to hers for a long, passionate kiss. "No, its okay," she said between kisses.

With that the thief drew her up in his arms and carried her over to the bed, his lips never leaving hers the entire way.

* * *

Regina lay, curled up against the thief, watching as the sun rose higher into the sky. Robin's fingers rubbed up and down her spine, causing her to shiver. She did her best to enjoy these moments, because there was a possibility that they'd be ripped from her at any moment. Robin looked out at the sky and huffed.

"We'd best get up, milady," Robin said as he pulled the Queen closer to give her a kiss on the bridge of her nose, chuckling a bit when she wrinkled it up at his touch. "We're to leave in a few hours and I know you haven't packed yet."

Regina sighed and kissed Robin's shoulder. "I wish we didn't have anything to do today," she said in a melancholy tone, reluctantly pulling herself away from Robin, shivering as the cool air wrapped around her skin. She hugged her arms around her chest and hopped out of the bed, crossing the room and slipping the gown on.

Robin followed, slipping his clothes on as well, chuckling as Regina, once more, was having trouble with fastening her gown. She gave him a look, huffing in frustration. He followed her and moved her hair away from her back.

"Are you actually going to fasten it this time?" Regina asked, crossing her arms over her chest as she craned her neck to look back at him with a raised eyebrow.

Robin smirked and then nodded. "Of course, Your Majesty," he said and Regina couldn't help but giggle every time his fingers brushed her skin as he buttoned up her dress. Once he was finished he twirled Regina around and held her against him. "I love you."

Regina laid her head against his chest, listened to the beat of his heart, and smiled up at him. "You've told me that a million times," she pointed out. The fear that had settled in her stomach still clung to her, but when she felt Robin's strong arms curled around her body she couldn't help but let go of some of her jitters. He made her feel safe in a way she couldn't describe. "I love you, too," she said after a while.

If there was a word stronger than love, Regina would have used it. She had never felt so strongly about someone before—not even the sweet stable boy, Daniel. Of course, he had been her true love, but there was something else about Robin. Not only was he her true love, too, but he was her soul mate. They weren't just connected at the heart, but at the soul as well, kind of like Snow White and Prince Charming were. The thought made her smile grow even bigger, laugh, and uncontrollable tears began to trickle down her cheeks.

"Regina?" Robin asked questioningly.

She wiped at her tears with a hand and just shook her head. "I'm fine, I swear. I have just never had someone like you or Roland. There's hardly been a soul out there who loves me like the two of you do," she admitted.

"Nor will there ever be. Our love for you is bigger than all the realms…than the universe," he said and Regina could swear she saw tears twinkle in his eyes, but they vanished instantly. His smile never did. "C'mon, you need to pack."

Regina pulled away and headed towards the wardrobe, frowning at her terrible selection of outfits. She pulled out a few—the white dress she'd first seen Robin in, the red velvet dress, a simple black one, even a few blouses with leather jackets and riding pants. She stored them up in a bag, folded neatly and sat back on her heels. "I'll just magically make some outfits appear once we get there," she told Robin who had his mouth opened in protest that just a few dresses wasn't going to be enough.

Regina also grabbed other essentials such as brushes, cosmetics, undergarments, and toiletries to bring with her. Once she was finished, she turned to Robin. "I suppose we saddle the horses now, correct?"

"I think the stable boys have already tended to them. Do you mind if Roland rides with you? He was begging and begging this morning and I told him I'd ask. We can switch off when he becomes too big of a nuisance," Robin suggested.

Regina nodded. "I'd love for him to ride with me," she said as they walked down towards the stables which were flocked with bustling stable boys and merry men mounting steeds. She also caught sight of Baelfire and Belle, packed and ready to go.

Regina handed off her luggage to a servant who was putting bags into a wagon pulled by two twin dapple grays. Robin and Regina's horses had been saddled up and were grazing on grass side-by-side. Little Roland was running his hands along Monroe's flank and when he saw Regina a smile grew on his already grinning face.

"Gina!" he exclaimed and ran over to wrap his spindly arms around her legs. Regina crouched down and hugged him back.

"Ready to go, my little knight?" she asked and earned a vigorous nod from Roland who hopped up and down on his toes.

"Am I riding with you? Did daddy ask?"

Regina smiled and nodded. "He did and I told him that you can ride with me." Roland gasped with delight and hugged Regina again.

Finally able to pry herself from the little boy she guided him over to Magic, who was back to her happy horse self after the incident over a month ago with Robin. She nuzzled at Regina and nickered when she greeted the Queen. Roland reached up and ran his fingers along the mare's nose, giggling as she nudged his hand.

"This is Magic, Roland," Regina introduced.

Roland stared up at her with wide eyes as he drew his hand quickly away from the black horse. "She's the one who kicked daddy," he said with a frown.

The Queen sighed and nodded sadly, stroking Magic's nose to reassure Roland that she wasn't going to hurt him. "She wasn't feeling well and had a hurt tooth. But she's okay now. Look," she said and waved a stable boy hauling horse food towards a cart. She took a carrot from him and broke it in half, handing one half to Roland. The other half she fed to the horse, who gratefully accepted her treat and chewed at happily. "Do you want to feed her?"

Roland gave a shy nod and gently reached his hand up with the carrot. Magic sniffed at his hand for a moment and then gently took the carrot from his hands. Roland giggled a bit nervously, but seemed more reassured now.

"See, she's not going to hurt you. We'd better saddle up now," Regina instructed and picked up the little boy, hoisting him up over the saddle before climbing on behind him and keeping one hand secured around his waist.

Roland threw his hands up in the air and giggled. "_Weeeee_!" he exclaimed.

Regina giggled at the reaction of the young boy astride a horse. "This ride is going to be really long but fun," she told Roland, although worry began to settle inside of her once more…as if it had gone away. Having Roland out here in the open was a perfect target for the Witch. She just hoped they could get to Rumplestiltskin's castle before anything bad happened to either him or Robin.

With that thought, the caravan of horses began to move and Regina looked over to her right to find that Robin had managed to make his way up to ride beside her and Roland. She felt reassured by his presence, but fear still loomed inside of her.


	22. Chapter 22

The caravan finally stopped when the sky began to darken. The sun was barely visible over the line of the trees when they set up camp but the night seemed to hold off long enough for everyone to pitch their tents, start a fire, and feed the horses.

Regina had settled herself at the bonfire, her stomach grumbling as she waited for the meal to finish cooking. Robin had gone to see Roland to bed for the boy had tired himself out on the long ride. The evening was cool and the occasional breeze that blew through was chilling to the bone, so Regina had placed herself as close to the fire as possible, leaving herself plenty of time to think about the road ahead of them, and not just traveling wise. Once more she was hit with a wave of worry as the thoughts of Zelena hurting Robin, Roland, and Henry entered her mind. She cringed, unable to bear the thought long and she just hoped that Emma could quickly defeat the witch so that she could finally be happy for once in her life without having to worry about anything.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't hear the footsteps nor see the man sit next to her, but it wasn't until his hand draped over her shoulders did she notice he was there. Regina smiled up into the face of Robin and he stole a quick kiss from her before scooting closer. While the Queen wanted to let her walls down, she knew she couldn't be too open with her budding relationship with Robin—not in front of the merry men, Belle, or Baelfire and certainly not where the prying eyes of the Witch could see the love of her life. Besides, she had a reputation to uphold.

"It's a little chilly, Your Majesty," Robin commented as he drew his arm away from her to stoke the fire and check the meat, which was almost done cooking. When he saw the way the Queen hugged her arms around herself, he frowned. "Are you alright?"

"Hmm?" she looked up, realizing she'd been lost in a train of thought again. Regina smiled a reassuring grin but she was far from alright. She was worried, tired, and achy from the long hours she'd spent riding that day. "I'm alright."

Robin gave her a look, one that said he didn't quite believe her. "Are you sure?" he prodded, giving another jab at the logs of the fire before setting the stoke aside. He turned towards Regina, grabbed her hands in his, and intertwined their fingers together. "You don't seem your usual self."

She wanted to admit all that was wrong—her fear, her exhaustion, the aches that cramped in her legs and belly but she smiled again, doing her best not to sound snappy when she said, "I'm fine." She didn't think it worked. Robin looked slightly taken aback when she spoke these words.

Regina understood her fear that constantly pestered her about the Wicked Witch's threats and she understood the pain in her thighs from straddling Magic all day but she couldn't really explain the headache that loomed behind her eyes or the clenching feeling in her stomach which was more than just hunger.

Robin looked like he wanted to say more but as he turned to check the meat, which was a deer a few of his men had hunted and killed early in their travels, he realized it was finished. He grabbed two plates and dished out a good proportion of food for himself and Regina. He carried the plate back over to her. "Don't worry, Regina," he assured as she picked at her food, not really having enough of an appetite to eat but at least a big enough one to recognize she was hungry. "We'll be there soon before you know it. You'll feel better once you rest."

They ate in silence and Regina forced herself to finish her entire meal because she knew she needed to keep her strength up. Why had she been feeling so horrible lately? That morning she'd woken up feeling bad and it had only progressed negatively with their journey. Perhaps she was just so stressed. It did that sort of thing to you, right? With that thought in mind, she set down her empty plate and closed her eyes, drawing in a deep breath and letting it out slowly, trying to put an end to her nagging qualm.

She noticed with heavy eyes that the sun was almost completely gone. The forest had become dark and she shivered as another cold wind swept through the little clearing they camped in, chilling her to the bone. Robin noted this and took off his cloak, wrapping it around her shoulders. He fastened it around her and didn't pull away. In fact, he pulled her to him and hugged her as close as possible, so close she was almost sitting on his lap. So close she could smell the forest that forever seemed to cling to him.

"Why don't you come sleep in my tent tonight," Robin suggested in a whispered tone. "It'd be a lot warmer and I certainly would enjoy your company. Besides, the merry men would be grateful to have a little more room to spread out."

Regina smiled at the invitation and felt herself nod against the thief's chest. "Alright," she consented and lifted herself away. "I'll go get my things from there."

She stood and stumbled a bit but before she could fall, Robin hurriedly caught and steadied her. He knitted his brow together. "Regina, are you sure you're alright? Answer me honestly."

Regina looked at him and sighed, leading him towards her tent where he began to gather her things for her, making sure she had to carry hardly anything. "I'm fine…I'm just so stressed out." She put her index fingers to her temples and rubbed, hoping it'd get rid of her torturous thoughts but it did nothing to help.

Robin hummed to show he had heard her and stashed her things away in his tent. She changed into her nightclothes and he into his and the two of them settled down on the bed made of quilts, pulling the covers up over them to block out the cold.

"Do you think we should get Roland and bring him in here?" Regina suggested as she shivered against the thief.

Robin shook his head. "The boy will come if he feels need. I've learned not to wake him up myself or else he'll never go back to sleep."

Regina nodded and felt her eyelids flutter but no matter how hard she tried, sleep would not come. Eventually, Robin got tired of her tossing and turning and sat up in bed. Regina felt bad about depriving him from sleep and shot him an apologetic glance as she shifted once more underneath the quilts.

"Sit up, Your Majesty," Robin said suddenly. Regina's eyes snapped open easily and she did so, cringing at the stiffness that had overtaken her body.

As soon as she was up, Robin sat up as well and positioned himself so that the Queen was in front of him. Then he put his hands on her shoulders and began to massage her back in firm yet comforting circles. Regina let out a breath as she realized how good this felt and leaned into the massage, feeling so much better each time she felt a muscle loosen up. Robin's hands worked up and down her back bringing so much relief.

"It looks like I've discovered a hidden talent," she joked and craned her neck to look back at the thief who was smiling at her if a bit nostalgically.

"Marian used to have nightmares," he explained, avoiding eye contact as he went along, continuing to run his thumbs along her shoulders. "To calm her down I'd always do this…I guess I just picked up the skill over time."

Regina thought for a moment, listening to the sadness that crept into Robin's voice when he talked about his deceased wife. Pushing past his hands she leaned her back against his chest and smiled when he wrapped his hands around her waist and pulled her as close as possible.

"What was Marian like?" she asked and when she realized the personal question she had just asked him had slipped from her mouth she felt bad. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's fine," Robin said. "Marian…she was an amazing woman. I met her one day, saved her from marrying someone she didn't want to marry. She hung with my band and I for a while and we eventually fell in love. I married her and we had Roland. She almost died during the pregnancy but using a magic wand I stole from Rumplestiltskin prolonged her life, if only long enough for her to give birth to my son. She was such a kind and genuine woman, so completely innocent—like a child. She had the greatest laugh and the brightest smile." Robin was quiet a moment as his eyes locked on Regina. "What about your Daniel?"

A sadness filled her heart that she couldn't begin to describe, as if a scar that had never fully healed had just been reopened. "He was just like you described Marian—kind, caring, such a sweet boy. We fell in love instantly, I think. He was hired on to care for my new horse who I'd named Rocinante…he taught me how to ride. We became best friends and eventually lovers. He enjoyed riding, picnics, and trips to Firefly Hill. As I told you before, though, Snow White told my mother about him and Cora killed him so I would become the Queen."

Robin heaved a sigh as his fingers played with Regina's hair. "Such terrible fates we both have faced, although I can hardly compare mine to yours. I'm sorry about all you went through, Regina. Nobody deserves to be forced to be someone else's dreams."

"I never loved Daniel the way I love you," Regina heard herself say and cursed herself silently for saying such things. "Tinkerbelle told me that while Daniel and I were true loves, you and I… we're soul mates. We're connected by more than just the heart."

The thief was quiet a moment, as if mulling this over in his head. "I feel the same way, Regina. My love for Marian…I would have walked through hell to be with her again, but you…I can't describe it. If there was a word stronger than love, that would be what I felt for you."

Regina smiled one of her small yet famous smiles. "And I you." She leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on his neck.

Robin eyed the sky a moment before untangling himself from Regina and sliding back underneath the covers. "Think you can sleep now? It'd do us both good." he teased.

Regina playfully swatted at his arm and slipped underneath the covers as well, bringing herself close to the thief's side. Robin closed the small space between them with a passionate kiss on Regina's lips. Ever since the kiss at the ball, the sensation of his lips moving against hers brought a new thrill to her, even though she'd probably experienced a countless number of his kisses since then. When he pulled away she rested her head on his chest and smiled up at him. "'Night, Robin."

"Goodnight, Regina," he mumbled, wrapping his arms tightly around her.

At this new touch, she felt everything melt away and sleep quickly sprang up to meet her.

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**A/N: FLUFFFFFFFFF! I need it...for what is to come. And you guys will too.**


	23. Chapter 23

The morning light filtered through the tent and Regina woke up, finding herself still curled up in Robin's arms. The thief wasn't quite awake, but she could see that he was stirring and slowly coming out of his sleep. For a minute, she lay there to let her eyes adjust to the sunlight and assessed how she felt. No pain had increased, but she certainly still felt the headache, the stiffness in her muscles, and the nervous churn of her stomach. Another day through hell of traveling, she supposed.

There was movement beside her and Regina saw Robin turn over. He smiled when he saw that she was awake and gently pulled her face to his for a good morning kiss. When he pulled away he just laid there beside her and ran his fingers through her hair, a comforting gesture she had come to love.

"Did you sleep well?" Robin asked as Regina settled her head against his chest.

The Queen gave a brief nod. "Yes," she responded, for she had. Her sleep had been dreamless and peaceful, although she felt as if she had been having nightmares all night. "I don't feel too well this morning though."

"Again?" Robin asked, his tone carrying a voice of worry.

Regina nodded a bit reluctantly. "I'll be fine," she assured, trying to sound as confident as possible, although she knew her voice was faltering. "It's probably just stress."

"You don't need to worry, Regina. That witch wouldn't dare touch you now," Robin responded and tightened his grip around her waist, pulling her even closer to him as a protective gesture. "I wouldn't let her."

"It's not me I'm worried about," Regina responded and looked up into the thief's eyes. She reached a hand up and tenderly stroked the stubble along his cheek, her thumb coming to rest on his lips, which earned it a kiss. "It's you and Roland, and Henry if Hook manages to bring him and his mother back."

The thief gave her a smile, a sad one—one that made it seem like he wanted her to understand his way even though she was too stubborn to. "You will get your happy ending, Regina," he said after a moment and kissed her softly again. "I'll make sure of it."

With that he stood up from the makeshift bed on the ground and stretched. Regina laid there a moment, trying to muster up her strength to stand up and get the day going. After a moment of gathering her bearings she stood and poofed her outfit on for the day, feeling it would take up too much energy to physically put it on herself. Using magic proved more exhausting than actually putting it on, she noted, as her eyes spotted after using it.

Deciding to get some fresh air Regina made her way out of the tent, grimacing as pain shot up her legs and down her back. She plopped herself down heavily on a log next to the fire which Little John was beginning to rekindle since it had died down last night. Regina sat, resting her chin in her hand as she watched the yellow flames begin to dance along the wood.

Suddenly, she was aware of a presence beside her and turned to see Roland smiling up at her. He had already dressed but his hair was a tangle of curls on his head. He still looked cute nonetheless. When he noticed he had gotten her attention those adorable dimples appeared on his cheeks as he smiled. "Hi Gina," he said and latched his arms around her waist in a hug.

Regina reached her arm out and hugged the little boy close as he nestled against her. "Good morning, my dear," she said and kissed the top of his head. "Your hair is a mess, Roland. Did you not brush it?"

He looked up at her with mischievous brown eyes. "No. I forgot a brush."

The Queen sighed and fingered through his hair, doing her best to make it somewhat presentable. If she had felt up to magic, she would have easily made a brush appear for the little boy but something told her even that simple act would come with a large, exhausting price. "There you are. Did you sleep well?" she asked as she pulled her hand away and rested it in her lap.

He shrugged a little. "I guess. It was cold," he said, a tone of complaint in his words.

Regina gave him a small frown. She knew that she and Robin should have gotten the child from his own tent last night and brought him to sleep in theirs. "You could have come to sleep with your daddy and me," she told him, hoping he'd take it as an invitation for when they stopped again for sleep.

"I didn't want to wake you up again," Roland responded with a little frown which made his dimples stick out just as much as when he smiled.

Regina pouted her lips and kissed the boy's forehead. "You wouldn't have, Roland. You would have been perfectly fine. We would have kept you warm," she assured the small child.

Roland smiled in response to this and looked a little more hopeful. "Okay, Gina," he said and Regina almost expected to find Roland showing up in their tent when the sky darkened again.

Just then, Robin emerged from the tent and made his way over to Regina and Roland, greeting the two of them with kisses on the top of the head. This gesture brought a look of surprise from a few merry men who had caught it—most certainly at the friendliness he had just openly displayed with the Evil Queen. Regina felt herself blushing and forced herself not to make eye contact with anyone.

"Come here, Roland," Robin said and Roland eagerly jumped up into his father's arms. Robin kissed his cheek and sat down next to Regina. "You aren't looking too well, Your Majesty."

Regina tried to hide her misery by a joke. She scrunched her face up at Robin. "Well that's not a very nice thing to say," she said, doing her best to hide her smile, which proved hard despite her sick feeling.

Roland frowned at his father, a look that ended up turning into a scowl. "Daddy, Gina is the prettiest girl in all the realms," he insisted with the sound of hurt in his voice.

Robin rubbed his boy's head playfully and nudged Regina with an elbow. "That's not what I meant," he told her and smiled at Roland. "She is, my boy, don't worry."

The Queen felt herself blushing as father and son agreed that she was the prettiest woman who had ever lived and focused her eyes on her hands in her lap, trying to find a way to answer Robin's question without giving him or Roland something to worry about. "I'm feeling a bit under the weather," she responded quietly.

"Roland, why don't you ride with me today, okay? Regina needs a bit of rest," Robin said, noting the way she refused to completely say what was wrong with her for she didn't even know herself.

Roland seemed unpleased by this idea but he nodded anyways, his concern for Regina weighing out above his own wants. "Alright, daddy," he sighed.

* * *

Breakfast had soon been served and everyone had packed up to head out again. Robin, once more, rode alongside Regina with Roland on his horse. She hated that Roland couldn't ride with her but at the same time she was relieved because the second she managed to sit astride Magic, she felt as if someone was taking her legs and ripping them from her body. Robin asked her more than once if she wanted him to ask to stop for a break, but she refused, working through the pain. The sooner they defeated Zelena the better.

Their ride had continued on for about an hour. The sun was hot despite the shade the trees provided and Regina felt utterly miserable. The heat and the heavy clothing of the Enchanted Forest that she was still trying to get used to had caused for her to sweat a lot. Beads had formed along her forehead and her hair clung to her neck. The headache was intense behind her eyes and she felt as if she was going to throw up at any minute. She didn't know how much longer she could go.

Eventually, Robin couldn't stand it and he had ordered a break. They all stopped around a lake to water the horses a bit earlier than they had planned. The merry men gratefully splashed in the water and Regina sat on the shore, soaking her bare feet in the lake. She watched as Roland splashed around with Robin and all the merry men for that matter.

Regina began to wonder about Robin's wife who had passed away. The merry men hadn't seemed all too accepting of Regina and the Queen supposed Robin had told them all about his relationship with her. She wondered if they had been the same way with his late wife or if they had accepted her into their little family. Still, they almost completely ignored Regina and she was sure that she hadn't gotten the chance to talk to a single one of them and there had to be at least one hundred. It saddened her to see that Baelfire and Belle both had been accepted into the group and there she sat alone on the shore, an outsider as she was anywhere she went.

As she watched everyone splash around, Regina cupped water in her hands and began to splash it on her face and let it drench her skin, sighing as it cooled there and left her feeling refreshed. After she'd cooled her skin down she cupped the water in her hands again and drew it to her mouth for a drink. She still found it odd drinking from fresh water sources instead of out of a sink. Storybrooke had provided her with luxuries she had to admit she missed in the Enchanted Forest.

After she had cooled down, Regina stretched out on the shore, the lake still lapping at her feet and the hem of her skirts. She knew she'd regret later on the feeling of sand in her hair, but at the moment it didn't matter. The refreshing stop had drawn her attention away from the terrible way she'd been feeling the past few days.

Soon Regina heard splashing and Robin plopped down in the sand beside her, watching his merry men and son mingle from the shore. Regina sat up and rubbed her eyes with her hands.

"I'm getting worried about you, Regina," Robin said after a moment. Regina simply sighed in response and put her head on his shoulder, flinching when she found that he was completely drenched.

She sat back up and frowned at him. "Robin, you're all wet," she complained, wiping at her cheek with the palm of her hand.

He gave her a look. "It's what happens when you visit lakes and play in them Regina. Stop avoiding my concern. What's wrong?"

Regina gave him a look full of frustration as she felt it bubble underneath her skin. "I already told you, I don't know. My head hurts, my stomach hurts, and my muscles ache." Her voice came out a little more bitter than she would have intended and so she softened it up once more when she repeated, "I don't know what it is."

"I just don't want you getting too sick. We don't have doctors with us. Perhaps Belle knows something about your symptoms. I can go ask her," Robin offered as he rubbed a hand up and down Regina's back.

She heaved a sigh and shook her head. "I'm fine, Robin, really."

"Somehow I don't believe you," he insisted and then huffed out a breath. "I'll make you a deal. I won't ask Belle about anything as long as you promise me that you will tell me if anything else starts to hurt. But, if you don't or you quickly worsen, I will get Belle. Got it?"

Regina nodded feeling both grateful and ungrateful for how caring Robin was trying to be. It was a thing she wasn't used to yet one she was already beginning to tire of. "Fine," she said.

Robin got up and helped Regina to her feet. She slipped her stockings and boots back on before looking up at the thief expectantly. He called everyone over and discussed that the next time they stopped it would be once they made camp for the night. With that they all mounted their steeds and were off once more to Rumplestiltskin's castle.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry I know it's a boring update, it'll be a little more exciting next time, I just needed some fillers to work out a few more details. Remember, this is the calm before the storm so here in a few chapters, it'll get pretty interesting.**


	24. Chapter 24

Two more days of traveling had come to pass and they had finally reached Rumplestiltskin's castle. There were several times when Regina had just felt like giving up because for the entire trip she'd felt absolutely horrible, but she couldn't really say any of her symptoms increased but she'd been tempted to go talk to Belle more than once, hoping that with her knowledge due to her reading, she'd know what was wrong.

Before she had actually worked up the nerve, they had reached their destination and while everyone set to work with their plans, Robin had suggested that Regina held off so she could get a good night's rest in a decent bed. As soon as she'd cocooned herself under the covers, Regina had fallen fast asleep.

It was now morning and Regina woke up feeling worse than she had the past few days. Her skin was slick with sweat and she quickly untangled herself from Robin's arms and swept her feet over the side of the bed. She sat there, one hand over her stomach, the other holding her head. An unbearable form of nausea swept over her and Regina could feel the color flushing from her face, probably being replaced by an odd green shade.

"Regina?" came the concerned voice of Robin as he sat beside her, his eyebrows knitted together. "Are you alright?"

She shook her head, keeling over slightly as her hand pressed harder on her stomach, grimacing as it suddenly felt as if someone had kicked her. She could feel bile rising in her throat. Regina hopped up from the bed and dashed towards the chamber pot in the corner of the bed chambers, throwing herself on the ground as she retched into it.

She could hear hurried footsteps and suddenly Robin was there beside her, one hand on the small of her back and the other holding her hair out of her face as she continued to vomit up last night's supper. Once she had puked up everything, she sat there, breathing hard, feeling only slightly better than she had before. Unable to hold herself up, she fell back against Robin's chest and the two of them sat on the floor while Regina did her best to muster up enough strength.

"That's it, you are seeing Belle," Robin said in a firm tone as he held Regina tight up against him. "Are you positive you have no idea what's wrong?"

She made no point to argue about seeing Belle. Regina felt so bad that she was ready to go to Rumplestiltskin's girlfriend herself. "Yes!" Regina snapped in answer to Robin's question, regretting instantly afterwards the tone she had used. With her next words, she tried to sound gentler. "I have no idea, I swear."

The thief scooped Regina up in his arms and set her back down in the bed, pulling the covers back over her. He bent down and kissed her forehead. "I'll be right back, okay? I'm going to find Belle and I'll bring her back here."

Regina nodded as he walked away and sunk down into the covers, thinking over her symptoms. Truthfully, she had never experienced anything like them before but she wasn't completely stupid and there were a few guesses swimming around in her mind that she was utterly terrified of thinking were possible. She forced her mind to wonder somewhere else but all else she could think of was Zelena's looming threats—how Robin, Roland, and Henry could be completely taken away from her in the blink of an eye.

Eventually though, Robin Hood returned with Belle at his side and Regina was brought back to the present problem of her illness. Maybe she was just overreacting and this was all something Zelena had done to make her powerless so it'd be easier to worm her way in and destroy Regina's happiness.

A flash of concern came across Belle's face when she saw the Queen's condition. "First off, let's get her cleaned up, okay?" Belle said and turned to Robin, who began to dispose of the contents in the chamber pot and wetted a rag that he brought over.

He rested the rag against Regina's forehead and looked over at Belle who had delved into a book written by doctors, flipping through page after page, shaking her head when she didn't find Regina's symptoms and nodding when she came across one. Robin moved to sit on the edge of the bed as the bookworm flipped through her book.

Several minutes passed by, so many that Regina had lost count until Belle finally shut the book and set it down in her lap, bookmarking a page by folding up the corner. She looked at Robin. "Can I speak to Regina alone, please?"

The thief looked up, a hesitant look in his eyes as he slowly got up off the bed and left the bed chambers. Once they were sure he had gone, Belle turned to Regina and opened up the book again to the page she had left off with and handed it to the Queen. When Regina saw the page she felt her face flush of color and she felt nauseous all over again.

"You think…" she was at a loss for words and bit her lip a moment, trying to compose herself. "You think I'm pregnant?"

Belle nodded, her expression completely masked so Regina couldn't tell if she was trying to smile or frown at this. "Your symptoms cover most in the early stages of pregnancy. You're probably only about a week or so along. Robin explained your symptoms—achy, nauseous, headache. He said sometimes you snapped at him when he was trying to make sure if you were okay."

Her suspicions had been confirmed just then and Regina wanted to cry—of joy, fear, sadness, or anger she had no idea. Still, she bit back her tears and closed her eyes, letting out a deep breath. This wasn't supposed to happen. What would Robin think?

"Regina, I have to ask you a few questions to be sure, okay? So you're going to have to answer them," Belle said.

The Queen nodded and opened her eyes, feeling much more emotional about this than she probably should have, but wasn't out-of-whack hormones apart of pregnancy, too? Regina heaved a shaky sigh and waited for Belle's first question.

"Have you had sex at all recently?" Belle asked and she looked just about as uncomfortable asking the question as Regina did answering it.

She nodded, unable to make eye contact with Belle. "Yes," she whispered.

Belle gave a nod and peeked at the book that was tremoring in Regina's hands. "Were you on your period when you did?"

The Queen nodded and slapped a hand to her forehead. Why had she been so stupid to allow such a thing to happen? She closed her eyes shut tight and felt a tear leak out which she quickly wiped away.

"I think we have our answer," Belle said after a moment, giving Regina a little time to compose herself. She picked up something off the ground and showed it to Regina. It was a tiny needle. "I brought some things with me because I already had the idea that you were pregnant and if I was right, I wanted to run a test. All I am going to do is prick your finger. This was a magic item Rumple had, for heaven knows what reason, but I read up on it once when I was in the library. It will tell you if you are pregnant or not. If it glows green you are and if it glows red then you are not."

Regina, unable to look, stuck out her index finger and hissed through her teeth when the needle was stuck into the fleshy part of her finger. She could feel blood welling up and quickly pulled it away, using the rag that had been setting on her head to wipe away the blood and stop the bleeding.

Regina watched as her blood became absorbed on the needle and it began to glow, white at first but then it turned into a luminescent green. She choked back a sob, still unsure if she was pleased about being with child or not. Belle gave her a small smile and then it faded, seeing as the Queen looked conflicted.

"Please tell me this baby is good news," Belle said.

The Queen simply shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. It depends on if the father thinks so or not," she replied.

"Robin," Belle offered but it wasn't exactly a question, it was as if she was stating the obvious fact. "Robin is the father, isn't he?"

Regina pursed her lips and nodded, becoming a little surprised when she found Belle's hand resting on her arm.

"I'm sure he'll be so, _so _happy for the both of you, Regina," she said. Belle then bent down towards the ground and picked up another item, something that looked like a necklace, or perhaps a pocket watch. "If you want, I can tell you the gender of your baby."

"What is that?" Regina asked.

Belle fingered the object in her hands. "It tells you the gender of your baby. If sways north to south it's a boy and if it's west to east it's a girl." Belle grabbed Regina's hand and placed it under the necklace. The charm was still for a moment and suddenly it began to move from side to side.

"A girl?" Regina wondered, feeling a twinge of excitement. She'd never had a daughter before, unless you counted Snow White who had already been ten years old when she had become her stepmother.

Belle nodded and grabbed Regina's hand. "Even though you may not feel that this baby is entirely good news, I think it's wonderful," she said and squeezed Regina's fingers. "Congratulations."

Regina forced a small smile. "Thank you, Belle."

The bookworm began to collect her things and held them under her arm. "No problem. I bet there's probably some books on pregnancy in the library. Rumple has just about everything in there. I can look for you if you'd like."

"You have finding Rumplestiltskin to worry about. I can find some when I do my research on Zelena. Thank you, though, for everything," Regina said and felt guilt build up in her chest. Right from the very beginning she'd deceived Belle and locked her away for so many years. After all the cruelty she had forced onto her, Belle had still taken the time to help Regina. "I'm sorry," she said.

"For what?" asked Belle as she backed up to the door.

The Queen heaved a sigh. "Everything that I have done to you in the past."

"You've redeemed yourself one hundred times over, Your Majesty," Belle said as she curtseyed. "No need to ask for my forgiveness. You already have it."

Regina smiled as Belle disappeared through the door and she could hear muffled voices outside. After a moment, Robin burst through the doors and ran towards Regina, wrapping her up in a hug. "Are you okay? What happened? You scared me to death!"

The Queen hugged him back, trying to scramble through her thoughts and find the right approach. How was she going to tell him? What if he didn't want the baby? She buried her head in his chest. "I'm okay, I'm fine," she soothed as he planted a kiss on the top of her head. "Belle figured out what was wrong."

Robin pulled away and tipped his head at Regina. "What's wrong then?"

How did she tell him? Was she ready for a heartbreak if he did not want a child with her? She felt tears seeping into her eyes and felt them roll down her cheeks. She reached up a hand to wipe them away but Robin beat her to it and gently caressed her face in his hands. He closed the space between them for a kiss and when he pulled away, Regina was still crying. "I don't know how to tell you."

"I'm ready for anything, Regina," he said, an edge of worry in his voice. She was probably scaring the poor man to death. "Tell me, please."

"I'm pre—"

Suddenly she was cut off but a loud scream and several fists pounding on the door. "Your Majesty? Robin Hood?" came the familiar voice of Little John. He burst through the door, a winged creature following after him.

Robin hopped up and ran forward to help his friend and Regina climbed out of bed as best she could, magic flowing through her veins as she constructed a fireball and flung it at the creature, igniting it in midair. It fell to the ground.

"Where's Roland?" asked Robin.

Little John staggered to his feet and threw a sword to Robin. "In his room. Come on."

The three of them took off, Robin leading Regina by the hand since she was almost too weak to walk on her own. She could tell she was slowing them down. Flying monkeys littered the hallways of Rumplestiltskin's palace and she watched as the merry men fought them off. Regina wondered how they had gotten past the walls of Rumplestiltskin's magic spells and then thought, with so much fear, that Zelena was stronger than she appeared.

They continued to run, turning down one hallway and to the third door on the right. They found Roland in his bed, cornered by a flying monkey. When they burst through the door the creature bared its fangs at them and continued advancing towards the little boy crying in his bed.

"Hey!" Regina yelled, let magic flow through her and tried to make a fireball but as soon as she did, it fizzled out. She had used too much energy and didn't have enough left. She was completely useless.

Robin, seeing she couldn't save his son, picked up his sword and with one powerful stroke, threw it at the flying beast. The sword struck the monkey in the leg and stuck there. The animal screeched in pain as blood began to pool on the ground underneath of it. Little John and Robin attacked the monkey as Regina sunk to the ground, trying to conjure up enough energy to summon just enough magic to rid themselves of the creature.

When she looked up she saw that the flying monkey was distracted and looked to Roland, who was no longer cornered. "Come here, Roland!" she called and without another thought, the boy ran to her arms and collapsed on top of her, sobbing into her chest. She hugged him close, watching with horror as the monkey began to overpower Robin and Little John.

Regina forced herself to calm down and refocus on constructing magic but the more she tried, the weaker she found herself to be. She clung to Roland, keeping his prying eyes from the fight that had unleashed as he sobbed into her, repeatedly saying, "Mama! Mama!". There was no "Gina! Gina!" this time.

"It's okay," Regina tried to soothe and ran her fingers through Roland's hair. "Hey, where's my brave knight? Be my brave knight, Roland."

This seemed to calm him down some because his sobs and calls for "mama" reduced to shaky cries as he clung to Regina tightly. She rocked him back and forth in her arms, trying to distract herself from both his shivering and her own.

Regina watched the fight between the monkey and the thieves. The animal had received not only a gash to the leg but it had several cuts along its chest and shoulders, all deep and bleeding profusely. Robin had claw marks along the side of his face and his chest was bleeding as well. Little John had a limp.

Then, all at once, the fighting stopped. The monkey screeched once and then flew off through the window, disappearing into the day. Robin ran over to Regina and sunk onto the ground next to her, hugging her and Roland in his arms. Little John limped over and sat down, trying to take deep breaths to take his mind away from his obviously injured leg.

And then there was another presence in the room. When Regina looked up, the snarling green face of the Wicked Witch was staring right back at her.

"Aw, how cute, look at that little family," she chuckled. She bent down next to Regina and Robin's arms tightened around his son and the Queen. "I heard I'm an auntie now."

Regina glared at Zelena. "Leave us alone, _witch_, and go back to the hole you crawled out of."

"Sorry for you, my sweet sister, my revenge is far from complete," Zelena laughed and tapped Roland on the shoulder. When the little boy looked up at her, she wickedly grinned. "Boo!"

"Mama!" Roland gasped and buried his head in Regina's chest again and his quivering became more violent. The Queen held him tighter and glowered at the Wicked Witch for scaring Roland.

"As I said before, you're never going to win, Zelena. You're going to lose and then once you realize it, you're going to regret it just like me," Regina said.

The Wicked Witch of the West smirked and rolled her eyes. "Oh if only you would understand, Regina. _Wicked _always _wins._ Your happiness is going to be obliterated and there's nothing you can do about it."

Robin now finally had a few words to speak. "And here the entire Enchanted Forest wants your head on a plate. You have enemies everywhere. There's no way you're going to win."

"Ah, papa bear has courage," Zelena said as she got up off the ground and paced back and forth, hands clasped behind her back. She turned to the little family. "Perhaps I need to give you a little test run, show you how this is going to work."

"What do you mean?" Regina inquired, feeling her muscles tighten as she prepared to stand up.

Then she noticed that Roland was no longer in her arms. When she looked up at the Witch, he was crying and screaming, clawing to be free. Regina hopped to her feet along with Robin and Little John. The two men wielded their swords.

"Now, now…one wrong move and the little boy gets his brains blown all over the walls," she said and a green light flashed in her hands. Zelena took a step backwards and Regina felt as if a piece of her heart was getting carried away.

"Daddy! Mama!" Roland was screaming. He continued to kick and punch at Zelena. At one point he got a hold of the Witch's hair and pulled as hard as he could but that still didn't prevent Regina's sister from keeping a tight hold on him.

Regina rushed at the witch feeling a small bit of magic flow through her veins, just enough that she could perhaps save Roland but as she darted towards her, Zelena hopped out the window and onto a broom, sending a blast of magic that knocked Regina over and carried her into dark oblivion.

* * *

**A/N: Told you, the calm before the storm! Poor Roland! D: What have I done?**

**Anyways, a few of you guessed Regina was pregnant and so I'd like to give you a little shoutout and tell you good job!**


	25. Chapter 25

Her eyes fluttered open slowly and she lifted herself from the bed, groaning as pain shot up her back. Regina looked around, trying to place where she was and realized she was in the bedchambers that she and Robin shared. Suddenly it was as if a tidal wave had crashed over her for the overwhelming thoughts and memories of what had occurred before she had been knocked out came rushing back. Roland was gone. He was in danger.

"Roland," she hissed under her breath. She had to save him and she had to do it now.

Regina sprang from the bed, tumbling out of the covers and onto the floor, barely getting a good landing. Before she reached the door, two strong hands grabbed her shoulders and she was whirled around to face Robin who was saying her name. "Regina! Regina!"

"What?" she snapped and then fought against his strong arms that held her close. She had to get Roland back or the witch was going to hurt him. The little boy was probably so scared and who knew what Zelena was putting him through. "You have to let me go, we have to get Roland."

"You are in no condition for that, Regina!" Robin spat out firmly, renewing his hold on her so she couldn't escape. "You can't even conjure your magic, you threw up this morning. You're sick. We'll get Roland back, I promise, but we can't do that now."

"I'm not sick!" she insisted, continuing to struggle. When she found that it was no use, she rested her head against Robin's chest and cried, feeling his hands run through her hair once he felt her body shaking with sobs. "I'm pregnant, Robin."

The words had left sooner than she would have liked and she continued to break down into his arms, letting out all of the emotion she had been holding back ever since Belle told her the news of her pregnancy—all of the happiness, the fear, the anger, the sadness. Roland being kidnapped by Zelena gave her another reason to sob into the thief's arms. She had never felt such a swirling storm of emotions and all of it was much too overwhelming.

For a long time, Robin didn't reply but after about a minute he pulled Regina away from him so he could look into her eyes. "What did you say, Regina?" he asked, his voice breathless and his face pale.

"I'm pregnant," she repeated, feeling tears cascade freely down her cheeks.

He continued to stare at her with those wide blue eyes. "I'm sorry," he said after a moment. "I didn't mean for this to happen. You probably hate me right now. I'm so sorry."

"No, Robin, I don't hate you," she responded and cupped his face in her hands. She did her best to smile, to show that she was okay and that it wasn't his fault. "I love you very much and I'm happy about this child, _our _child, as long as you are."

With that he pulled her close to him again and closed the small space between them for a passionate kiss. Once they drew away, Regina rested her forehead against his, chuckling as she watched a large smile grow on his face. "Well then I'm happy."

The Queen smiled back, feeling a bit better about the situation now that she knew that Robin was okay with having a baby with her. She kissed the thief's cheek and gave him a knowing smirk . "I also know the gender of our baby," she teased.

Robin's eyebrows raised. "Really?"

"We're having a girl," Regina said after a moment.

"A daughter!" Robin exclaimed and he lifted Regina by the waist and spun her around in the air. "She'll be as beautiful as you are, I can already picture her gorgeous black curls."

"Don't get your hopes up, mister, she could end up with brown hair," Regina said and then paused, a look of terror coming over her face. "Or in the hands of the Witch just like Roland." She pulled herself against the thief again and he embraced her warmly. "What are we going to do about Roland?"

"I sent a group of my merry men led by Little John to scout the area out. I also sent a bird to Snow and told her of the attack. Belle and Baelfire managed to keep the library safe. They're gathering up all the books on the Wicked Witch that they can to give you because we're going back to your castle. Especially with a baby, you'll be much safer there," Robin explained.

Regina shook her head. "No, I can't just sit back and not do anything. It's my fault Roland is missing, I need to find him."

"Regina, you're being senseless!" Robin said and put a hand on her stomach. "You have not only your own life to look out for now but another as well. We will find Roland, don't fear. I also don't want you feeling responsible for him like that. Nothing is your fault. Zelena used magic to get him, it was nothing you could have stopped."

Tears continued to leak down her face nonetheless. "I don't want you getting hurt either, Robin. Zelena took Roland and she'll take you too. And Henry if Hook brings him back. I don't want you to be killed or whatever else Zelena plans to do to you. I certainly don't want our daughter to grow up fatherless and brotherless."

"She won't," Robin assured firmly, "I'll be here, I promise. Roland and Henry will be here, too. Everything will be okay but you have to be patient. We will defeat Zelena and Roland will be safe and sound to be a big brother."

"But—"

Robin held a finger to her lips and Regina quieted. "Shhh, it's going to be okay, Regina. You're not feeling well, you're tired, and you've been through a lot. Come back to bed," he said and took her by the hand.

Regina, still not completely reassured, decided to give in because she knew Robin was right. She also knew it wasn't good if you didn't take care of yourself while you were pregnant. Stress and lack of sleep wouldn't be good on her child. She climbed in the bed and pulled the covers up over herself, instantly curling up against Robin as he joined her on the other side.

He wrapped one arm around her and the other was placed protectively over her belly. Regina couldn't help but smile, relieved that he had taken to the idea of being a father so easily and that he had seemed thrilled about it despite certain circumstances. Cocooning herself in the covers and against him, Regina was overwhelmed with the scent of pines and the warmth of the man she loved as she slowly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

It had been four days since Roland had been missing. Regina had been in bed most of the time mainly because every time she tried to get up, someone was there to put her right back. Sometimes when she woke up, Robin was lying beside her with one hand always over her stomach and sometimes he was not. When she had asked where he'd gone, she was told that he had gone scouting to try and find Roland or any trace the Wicked Witch had left. It scared her to death when he was gone for fear the Witch would take him away, too but he always returned and he was always without little Roland when he did.

Her mind had been consumed with thoughts of the little boy she was beginning to miss terribly, the half-brother of the life growing inside of her. She missed Roland's smile, his dimples, his laughter, his playfulness, and most of all she missed hearing his sweet voice calling her "mama" as he had done minutes before he'd been ripped from her arms and carried off by her wicked sister.

When Robin was not by her side, she worried for him too. She didn't want him to be injured terribly by the flying monkeys or even by the Witch herself. Regina knew she wouldn't be able to stand it if he was kidnapped just as Roland was currently. Her mind was constantly tormented by thoughts of Zelena and what she might be doing to Roland or at least the things she had in store to deprive Regina of her happiness.

There was also the churning fear that her daughter was in danger. Maybe Zelena couldn't hurt the baby while it was still developing in Regina's womb, but once that baby was born in nine month's time there was always the chance that Zelena could take the child away from her too.

When these thoughts got too overwhelming, Regina tried to think of names for her daughter. She liked the idea of the R's that she had so far: Robin, Regina, Roland. It only made sense that her baby's name started with an _R _as well. Several girl names that started with an _R _had rolled through her mind but none of them seemed to fit her daughter.

Today, though, they had received word from Snow's castle that Robin and Regina could return and that there was important matters that needed to be discussed upon arrival. Regina had news for the Charmings as well, figuring it would only be fair if she told them about her baby early like they had with her. Regina was all packed, sitting on her bed with a stack of books Belle had given to her that morning about Oz, the Wicked Witch, and a few on pregnancy. Right now, she was fishing through pages of one of the Oz books to learn as much about the Witch as she could.

There was a knock on her door and she put the book down as Robin stepped in. "Are you ready to go, milady? A few of the merry men are coming with us and are finishing up tacking the horses."

"I'm ready," Regina responded and gathered up her bags. Robin took a few from her to alleviate her cumbersome load and they headed out of Rumplestiltskin's castle and to the stables where Little John and five other merry men readying their horses.

Robin led Monroe and Magic out they could mount up. Regina patted her horse on the nose and smiled as Magic greeted her with an affectionate nicker and a slight nudge to the stomach, where her great nose lingered as she sniffed.

"You know what's in there, don't you? Maybe one day you'll be giving a little girl a ride instead of me," Regina told her quietly as she gave the horse's ears a stroke before swinging herself up into the saddle.

The men hustled about, finally finishing tacking up their horses. Robin and a few of the others had already saddled up as the rest gathered to do the same. Once everyone was ready, the thief turned to the Queen.

"Before we embark, I want to introduce Regina to my most trusted out of the merry men." With that he gave a point to each one as he introduced them. "You have already met Little John, milady, and you know he is my best friend."

Regina smiled at the bear of a man as he dipped his head to her. Robin moved on to a skinny man who looked like a younger version of Robin, the only difference being age and the fact that the boy had red hair.

"This is Much, my nephew, if you couldn't see the resemblance," Robin introduced and Much gave Regina a sheepish smile, as if he wasn't too sure about her yet.

The third one to be introduced to her was two men who looked very similar to each other, both tall and lean and maybe a few years younger than Robin. They could have passed for brothers and the only difference was that one had dirty blond hair and the other dark brown. "This is Will and Arthur. Many people think they're related but they are not. The two idiots of our group, although Arthur carries a bit more wit and Will a bit more stupidity."

Both boys chuckled at their introduction and fist bumped each other. Regina smiled at the closeness they shared.

He got to an older fellow who was dressed in religious clothing. He smiled at Regina such a big grin that it twinkled in his pale blue eyes. "This is Friar Tuck, but don't let the title fool you. He's certainly not like any friar you've met before."

"And I can't say I've met many," Regina said as she nodded to the old man.

Robin finally got to the last man, a feisty looking fellow with a thick black mop of hair on his head. "This is Alan-a-Dale but we just call him Alan. He's kind of scary at first, but you'll see that he has a warm heart."

"It's nice to meet all of you," Regina said and bowed her head at the merry men. "I'm Regina."

"For an evil queen you certainly don't seem evil," Will stated after a moment and Friar Tuck reached over and slapped him on the arm. "We were all thinking it," he said after taking a moment to rub his arm. "No evil queen I used to know smiled like that."

"That's because I'm not the Evil Queen anymore," Regina responded, trying not to laugh out of happiness at Will's observation that had made her see she had changed—it seemed as if she was being forgiven by others without really knowing it. "I'm simply Regina."

"It's nice to meet you, Regina," all six men said together as a group, almost as if they had practiced saying those words at that same time.

Arthur smiled at the Queen. "You know the last time Robin introduced us to a woman was when—"

He was slapped by Friar Tuck this time and scowled at the friar as he rubbed at his arm.

"Excuse them," Robin said as he turned his horse around to signal the group to go about the journey. "They don't meet many women. The last one they met was Marian."

"You need to get them out more, Robin," Regina joked as she glanced back at the men, watching a fight going on between Will, Arthur, and the friar that seemed to involve a lot of hitting.

Robin smiled as he continued on and Regina kicked her horse forward to ride close beside him.

"I suppose I do," he said with a small chuckle and the journey continued on.

* * *

**A/N: Well I had planned for a little more action but then decided against it so this is basically just a little filler chapter again. And anyways, I needed Regina to tell Robin about her pregnancy. It was supposed to be really cute and all the way she told him but I knew she wouldn't have the time or be in the mood to make it cute. So yeah.**

**Next chapter will be a little more exciting, I promise.**


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N: First of all, I wanted to apologize that I didn't warn you all before that I'd be on vacation for a while and wouldn't have time to update, so that is why this took forever. I'm terribly sorry. So, without further ado, here is a probably long-awaited chapter.**

* * *

The trip home had been as long and treacherous as the one _to _Rumplestiltskin's castle. Regina was met with the common symptom of morning sickness quite often and rides usually left her extremely tired, achy, and above all else, crabby. The merry men and even Robin had learned to keep their distance from Regina when she got in her hormone-induced moods and Regina did her best to stray from the men to spare them the wrath of a pregnant woman as best she could.

The nights were the worst of all for each one was plagued with nightmares and all of them involved the Wicked Witch. Regina would see Roland, Robin, or Henry being picked up by the green woman, carried away to be tortured and killed. Sometimes, Zelena would come to Regina and the Witch would put her hand on the Queen's belly and Regina could feel sinister magic swelling in her womb. Zelena would pull away and smile, tell Regina that she had cursed the life growing inside of her. It was times like these when Regina would jump from her sleep, slick with sweat, only to be coaxed back to bed by Robin, who was always beside her, running his fingers through her hair, keeping a protective hand on her stomach, and whispering comforting words in her ears until her eyes closed again.

The terrible journey had lasted about four days and so when the familiar sight of the castle came into view above the tree tops, Regina felt instantly relieved but also a bit upset. She knew she would have to tell Snow White about her baby at some point in time, even if because it was only fair since she had told Regina about hers. Yet there was a part of her that didn't want her stepdaughter to know of such an intimate thing, about her baby. It just didn't seem right. Then, there were thoughts of Tinkerbelle. The fairy was very smart and Regina knew that sooner or later she'd figure out that her pixie dust had done more than find Regina her true love. It had given her a child, too.

The Queen did her best to shake these thoughts away as they neared the castle. Already, there were people gathering by the gates, cheering and calling out to the merry men and Regina as they approached. The stable boys were standing, waiting to take the horses to care for them after the long journey. Once they reached the gates, Regina hopped down from her horse and never had she felt so grateful that she could get off of one.

As soon as they passed through the castle gates, Snow White was there, pulling on Regina and Robin's hands. Regina noticed that Snow's dress that was snug around her abdomen allowed for the smallest bulge to be seen. People who didn't know her wouldn't have even seen it there, but Regina saw and she wondered how long it would take until she started to show.

"Could you two walk _any _slower?" Snow White complained as she dragged them along.

"Dear, we have been travelling for four days. I can barely feel my legs," Regina said tartly.

Robin took Regina's hand with his free one and squeezed it gently to show that he was there. "We're coming, Snow, just give us a moment."

When the princess saw that Robin wanted to talk to Regina, she gave a bow of her head. "We'll be in the throne room. Might I suggest making it quick? Regina will certainly be pleased to see what she finds in there." And without waiting for a response, she disappeared down the hallway.

Once she was gone, Robin turned to Regina. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she said and shook her head. "I'm just tired and stressed out. I promise I'm okay."

"As soon as this is over, you're taking a very long nap," Robin said firmly as he took hold of Regina's hand again and led her in the direction that Snow White had disappeared down moments ago.

The walk to the throne room wasn't a long one. It was in the center of the castle, hidden behind two large wooden doors that took two guards to open. When they got there, the men were already pulling open the door and Regina stepped inside, followed by Robin. They could hear the doors shut behind them and then they looked around. Snow, Charming, Tinkerbelle, the dwarves, and a few fairies were in the room along with Granny and Red Riding Hood.

Surprisingly, Hook was there too and Regina couldn't help but feel a swell of hope blossom in her chest when she saw him. Did that mean that…?

"Mom!" came the call of a familiar voice, although now it sounded deeper as if it fit an older boy. Then suddenly, there were arms around her waist and a head resting in the crook of her neck and Regina looked down to see Henry decked out in medieval clothes.

He really did look like her little prince now. "Henry!" she gasped and hugged him back, stroking his hair which was a shade or two darker and much thicker. "Oh, I thought I'd never see you again. I missed you so much," she whispered in his ear. "I love you."

"I love you too, mom," he said and Regina swore she could hear him sniffling. When he pulled away there were tears in his eyes.

"You look so grown up," she marveled and realized that when he stepped back he was only an inch or two shorter than she was.

He'd definitely hit puberty during the year the two of them had been separated. His voice was deeper and his face had changed a lot. Regina wanted to cry suddenly but bit back her tears, knowing she'd cry them later. She had missed out on a very crucial part in her adopted son's life and Emma, his birth mother who had been around for only the last two years of his life, had gone through it all.

Speaking of the savior, Regina looked up to find her standing beside Hook with Snow White hugging on her for Regina realized that she, too, had been missing a child for a year. The two of them were talking and Emma's eyes grew big. Regina realized that Snow White must've told the blonde that she was expecting another baby.

"I never thought I'd get to see the Enchanted Forest," Henry exclaimed as he looked around. "Your castle is impressive. You really lived here?"

"Yes, I did," Regina said as she looked around at the same view she'd seen for many years. She supposed to one who had not seen such a marvelous place, it would be fascinating. She was certainly captivated by the throne room during her first visit to the castle she'd become imprisoned to. "And now you and your mother will live here, too."

Henry eyed her a moment and then tipped his head. "You seem…different."

"Different. How?" Regina asked.

Henry shrugged and made a face, one he always made when he was thinking. "I don't know. You just don't seem as gloomy anymore."

Regina laughed a little at that. She was certain that she was more depressed now than she ever had been what with the threats that Zelena had made, Roland's kidnapping, the fact that Henry gave the Witch another target to take away. "A lot has changed," she said. "I'd like you to meet someone."

Then, she turned to find Robin behind her and took his hand, motioning for him to step up beside her. When he did, he extended a hand to Henry, which the boy took instantly. "It's nice to meet you, Henry. Your mother has spoken very fondly of you. I'm Robin Hood."

At this, Henry's eyes grew wide and his mouth dropped open. "Mom…you know…you know Robin Hood?"

Both Regina and Robin chuckled. "Yes, dear."

"Wow!" he exclaimed and turned to the thief. "When I was little I would always watch _Disney's_ Robin Hood almost every day except you were a red fox not a man."

"What's he going on about?" Robin asked.

Regina rolled her eyes. "In our world, there were these things called movies and you put them into a little box and they played on a screen. They had moving pictures and voices. Your story has a movie to go with it and I have a movie too…well, Snow White does. The Evil Queen from that movie is jealous of her though and that's certainly not the case in the real world," Regina said and crossed her arms over her chest.

Both Robin and Henry laughed. "It's nice to meet you, too, Robin."

"Henry, there's another thing I wanted to tell you, too," Regina said and looked at Robin expectantly. He gave her a nod, seeming to know what she was going to tell her son. She drew herself close to her boy and whispered in his ear. "I'm going to have a baby."

Her adopted son's eyes grew huge. "What?" he exclaimed loudly. "I'm going to be—"

"Shh!" Regina said and put a hand over his mouth, blushing when everyone turned around to see why Henry was being so noisy. "Nobody knows yet, so you have to keep it a secret. I just found out about a week ago."

"Oh, sorry," Henry said, lowering his voice, and flashing her an apologetic smile. "Who's the father?"

Regina and Robin passed each other a look. "Me," Robin said, unable to keep excitement out of his voice.

"Wait, mom," Henry said and tugged on Regina's arm. "You mean that not only are you the Queen of this kingdom but you're Regina _Hood _in fairy tale land?"

"No, dear, Robin and I aren't married," she said and gave a nervous laugh, wondering how her son would take this news.

"Oh," Henry said, sounding mildly disappointed. Regina supposed he would have liked to claim that Robin Hood was his step-adopted father. "Well, I guess that's okay. My biological mom and dad aren't married either. I don't think they ever will be," Henry said and nodded his head towards Emma and Hook who were passing each other doe-y eyes.

Regina rolled her eyes at that. "I hope I didn't do that," she murmured.

"I'm very happy for you, mom," Henry said and hugged Regina again before, to Regina's surprise, hugging Robin. "And you, too. You're going to make great parents. And I finally get a younger brother or sister."

"Thank you, my boy," Robin said and Regina laughed, glad that he had already taken a liking to Henry.

Regina bent down to Henry again. "I'll let you in on a little secret…another one. You'll have a sister."

Henry smiled widely. "That's amazing!"

"It is."

"Do you have a name yet?" he asked. "I'll need to get used to calling her a name instead of just 'the baby'."

Regina shook her head. "No, but we're still thinking. I'll let you know when we pick."

Henry was just left to smile and mull over the news he had received before his face fell and he looked around the room. When he didn't see what he was looking for, he turned back to Regina. "Where's my dad at?"

"He's at Rumplestiltskin's castle with Belle. They're trying to figure out if your grandfather is really dead or not. If he isn't, they're going to bring him back and help us defeat the Wicked Witch of the West," Regina explained.

"Henry's grandfather is Rumplestiltskin?" asked Robin. "I thought Charming…"

"Yes, Charming is, too. But he has two grandfathers. One on his mom's side and one on his dad's." Regina nodded. "His birth father is Baelfire, remember?"

"Oh yeah," Robin said.

"The Wicked Witch of the West?" Henry inquired with a tip of his head.

Regina gave a sad nod. "Where one evil is undone, another always grows," Regina said. "The Wicked Witch is my half-sister. We share mothers—"

"Please tell me Cora isn't coming back!" Henry exclaimed.

"No, she's not," Regina assured and mention of her deceased mother brought a small twinge of sadness that she couldn't help "Zelena is jealous of me, Henry. She is jealous that Cora chose me over her, that I became a queen, and that I cast Rumplestiltskin's dark curse. It was supposed to be her, but Cora just didn't think she would work out so she gave her away and had me instead."

"That's terrible!" Henry gasped.

Regina gave a nod. "It is. What's worse is that she wants to take away my happiness."

Henry's face fell even more than it already had. "That means everything you love. Is she going to enact another curse?"

Regina shook her head. "No, I don't think so. She wants to take away people that I love. She already took away Robin's son, Roland, and we haven't been able to find him. He's been gone a week."

"That means she'll take away me," Henry said and took a step back. "And Robin. And…the baby."

Regina nodded and felt tears begin to pool in her eyes but she did her best to blink them away. "She won't," the Queen said and for once, she sounded so sure of it. "That's why your mother is here, Henry. She's going to defeat the Wicked Witch. Not for me, but for you, so you don't get hurt."

Henry nodded. "You're right," he said after he composed himself. "Good always defeats evil."

"Wicked," Regina corrected.

"That too. My mom will take care of her." Then he looked up at Regina. "But you're good now. Can't you defeat Zelena."

"I may have renounced my ways as the Evil Queen but I have dark magic and your mother has light magic. Darkness cannot defeat darkness and that is why I can't defeat Zelena," Regina told Henry. "It has to be your mother."

"I get it," Henry said.

Suddenly, there was another presence and Regina looked up to find Emma standing there. A bitter taste hung in Regina's mouth at the sight of the savior. No matter how many times she tried to convince herself that she was good and that she and Emma could be friends now, she couldn't help but feel repulsion at the sight of her even if she had given her a good life with Pan's dark curse. "Hello, Emma," she said rather coolly.

"Regina," Emma said with a dip of her head and offered a small smile, one that seemed a little forced as if she had been told to play nice. She looked different somehow, wearing a gown instead of that red jacket she'd taken to in Storybrooke. "I see you and Henry have found each other."

Regina nodded and turned to Robin. "Um, Robin this is Emma and Emma this is Robin…Hood."

"I should have known," Emma said with a small laugh. "It's nice to meet you, Robin Hood."

"At your service," the thief said and extended his hand, which Emma shook.

"Well I hate to ruin the party but I need to borrow Henry," Emma said and gave Regina an apologetic look. "I promise you two can have some more time together, soon."

"Regina needs to rest anyways. We've had a long few days," Robin said and took the Queen by the hand.

At this gesture, Emma threw Regina a surprised look before seeming to shake herself off. She grabbed Henry by the hand.

"Goodbye Henry," Regina said, unable to keep the sadness out of her voice. "I want to hear all about New York the next time I see you, okay?"

"Okay, mom!" Henry said as Emma drug him away, the both of them calling out their farewells as they disappeared from the throne room.

"I take it you and the boy's mother don't get along very well," he said.

Regina shrugged. "It's a long story, but no, we don't. I try to tell myself to but I can never bring myself to like Emma that much," she said.

"At least the two of you tolerate each other," Robin said.

"I guess," Regina said and then she was nodding.

"We're getting you to bed," Robin said as he led Regina away and she could already feel her eyelids fluttering as they made their way to her chambers.


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N: Sorry these updates are so few and far between. I just have been really busy and preoccupied these past few days. I promise they'll get more frequent soon. Also, I just wanted to point out that this update takes place about a week after Robin and Regina return home.**

* * *

"Regina! Regina, wake up!" a desperate voice called, ripping the Queen from unconsciousness as she sat up in bed, her entire body covered with sweat, her head spinning, her stomach churning.

There was movement beside her and strong arms wrapped around her, a hand going on her stomach. In her blind delusion she felt magic flow through her veins, a hand went up and whoever was holding her smacked into the hard stone wall. It wasn't until Regina heard the familiar grunt of a man did she realize who she had used that magic on. Gasping, Regina flung herself out of bed and towards Robin who was slowly picking himself up off the floor into a sit, rubbing his head.

"Robin, I'm sorry," Regina said as she crawled over to him and gently held his face in her hands, looking all over for any wounds she had caused. Besides a bruise forming on the side of his head, Robin seemed unscathed. Regina breathed out a sigh of relief and brought his lips to hers for a kiss. "I'm sorry," she repeated against his mouth.

"It's fine. I'll be okay," Robin said, pulling away. He held Regina to him and ran his fingers through his hair. "You were having a nightmare."

"No, no, I hurt you," she said, tracing her fingers over the bruise on his head, flinching back when she heard him hiss in pain. "I'm sorry," she said for the third time.

"Hey, look at me," Robin said, holding her face in his hands now. "I'm alright. You don't need to apologize. I'm the one who startled you."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Regina asked, still not completely convinced. "I can heal it," she said, letting her fingers light up with a purple glow.

Robin put a hand over hers. "No, that's enough magic for today. It's just a bump, Regina. It'll heal on its own. I'm fine." He pulled himself to his feet and helped Regina to hers before leading her over to the bed. They both sat down on it and Robin held Regina's hands in his lap. "You on the other hand, were screaming bloody murder in your sleep. What kind of nightmare was it this time?" he asked.

"It wasn't a nightmare, I just—"

"Regina, ever since you found out you were pregnant you've been having nightmares every night. Please, my love, tell me what's going on?" he asked, his blue eyes pleading. "What do you keep dreaming of?"

Regina sucked in a sharp breath and shook her head. "I don't want to talk about it. I don't want you to worry as well."

"I'm already worried," Robin said and pulled Regina closer to him so he could kiss the top of her head. "If you tell me maybe we can figure this out together." He brushed a few locks of dark hair out of her face and tucked her hair behind her ear. His hand stayed there though, his thumb rubbing the tender skin on her cheek.

Regina looked up into his eyes and saw the genuine kindness there that had made her fall in love with him in the first place. She closed her eyes, drew in air to fill her lungs, and exhaled one large breath. "I keep about the Wicked Witch. Every night she comes and takes either you or Henry. Sometimes I see her torturing Roland. Other times she…" she trailed off, and shook her head to try and force away her thoughts.

"She what?" Robin pressed.

"Other times she takes our baby," she said and her eyes fell to her stomach which was still flat and still held the secret of life growing inside of her. "Or she curses her. I don't know what she does but she always touches my belly and this green magic flows into me. She laughs and grins at me before getting on her broomstick and flying away. She calls back and says that she has tainted the most powerful magic of all."

Robin's hand drifted from her face, trailed down her arm, and came to rest on her belly. The palm of his hand rubbed gently over the place where her child grew. "Regina, that witch will not lay a hand on our daughter, I promise."

Regina furiously shook her head and turned to Robin. "You can't make promises you can't keep, Robin. You promised she wouldn't take Roland and now he's gone and there is no trace of him," she said, grabbing his shoulders and felt hot tears running down her cheeks. "I remember that first night you stayed with me when I was sick. I woke up and I said I had a nightmare. It was about Roland and I saw someone taking his life. I…I thought it was me. I thought I was the one who was hurting him, but now that I look back on it I realize that it was _her_, my sister. What if these dreams tell the future? What if she really does kill you, Roland, and Henry. And then she curses my baby and once she is born, she comes and takes her away, too? Robin…I couldn't live if that happened. I can't lose the four people I love the most."

"I know you despise me saying that she won't succeed because in your mind, she will, but Regina everyone but that witch is fighting _for _you. Hundreds of people are prepared to get rid of Zelena for _you._ There is no way in all the realms that she could possibly win. Everyone is preparing for a battle to protect you and your happiness. Some are doing it out of love, others out of respect, but it is all still the same. It's a true and just fight on our side. I am fighting for you. Roland is your bravest knight. Henry will be wielding a sword against that witch too. She may be a powerful sorceress but I believe that love, true love, is the most powerful magic of all and there is no way that Zelena, who is filled with darkness can defeat such a blinding light," Robin said.

_Love, true love, is the most powerful magic of all, _Regina thought, flashing back to that time when she had told young Snow White those exact words, those exact words that she, herself, had learned from Daniel and now she was hearing them from Robin. A smile crept up onto her face.

When Robin saw Regina's smile he chuckled and kissed her lips softly. Regina sighed into his mouth as she was greeted with the blossom of pure happiness as she relished his kisses. When they pulled away, Robin rested his forehead against hers. "There's that beautiful smile," he whispered. "I love you."

"I love you, too," she replied in a hushed voice and tucked her head underneath of his chin. Robin held her against him and once again she was hit with that giddy feeling, the thought that maybe she could end up being happy with Robin. It was if magic flowed between them, radiating from one body to the other.

After several minutes of being curled up in Robin's arms, Regina drew herself away. "I should probably get ready for the day. I have Witch research to take care of," she said. Robin helped her to her feet and she reached her wardrobe. When she looked inside, she gasped. "My clothes!"

Sinister, dark gowns and outfits were completely removed from her wardrobe. Instead, beautiful gowns of all colors and designs were displayed inside, all equally catching Regina's eye at the same time. She didn't know which one to pick. When she felt Robin smiling behind her, she turned to him and put her hands on her hips.

"Happy Birthday," he said, eyebrows raising as he waited for it to sink in.

Regina's mouth opened wide as she realized for the first time that it was, indeed, her birthday. She'd been so caught up in her fear, her determination to get rid of the Witch, and thoughts of the baby that she had completely forgotten a day dedicated to herself. "I hadn't even realized it was my birthday." She wrapped her arms him for a hug. "Thank you, Robin."

"What makes you think I had anything to do with this?" he asked and when she gave him a look he just laughed. "Oh, alright. It was my idea but Snow White and Tinkerbelle were the ones who got the gowns. I figured you needed something special."

"Special, indeed," she said as she pulled away and turned to her wardrobe. "I don't know what to wear now though. Maybe you can help me pick."

Robin nodded and approached the wardrobe, fingering over the dresses carefully as if he was afraid they would rip. After a moment, he pulled out a light blue gown. It was simply made, luckily, with no poofy skirts but it was just as intricate and beautiful as her gowns with those. Regina smiled as Robin held it up to her. "I've always figured you'd look gorgeous in blue."

Regina took the gown from him and traced her fingers over the delicate silk fabric. "Blue has always been my favorite color, although I'm positive I convinced the entire kingdom I loved black. When I was a girl Daniel would always tell me I looked the prettiest in blue. He even saved up a whole year's worth of pay to buy me a blue riding jacket."

"That was very sweet of him," Robin said and Regina looked up to see him just grinning at her.

Regina shook herself out of her thoughts and pecked Robin on the cheek before locking herself in the other room and drawing a bath. After washing off she put on the gown, smiling at how vibrant it looked compared to all of the dark clothes she had worn for so many years. Regina brushed out her hair and left it cascading down her back in its curls before exiting the room and heading back into her bedchambers.

"Okay, Robin," she said and stepped into the light. When she looked around, he was nowhere to be seen. "Robin?"

Unfortunately, he wasn't there, Regina realized with a scowl. Her stomach growled and then it occurred to him that he might have gone down for breakfast, although she didn't see why he wouldn't wait for her because as of late they had been attending breakfasts together. Deciding she would search for him after she got her meal, unless of course he was already down there, she headed towards the dining area.

After twisting and turning down this hallway and that, Regina had reached the big doors that led into the kitchens and ultimately, the large dining room in which everyone ate at. She pushed through the doors and when she got inside, the table was set for breakfast yet nobody was there to partake in dining.

"Hello?" Regina called, looking around with a scowl on her face, a worry beginning to churn in her stomach. The Witch hadn't abducted everyone had she? "Hello?"

"SURPRISE!" came the deafening roar of dozens of voices and Regina flinched, jumping backwards as heads popped up from behind the table. Snow White, Prince Charming, Emma, Henry, Hook, Ruby, Granny, the seven dwarves, Tinkerbelle, the Blue Fairy, Robin, Jiminy Cricket, Gapetto, Pinnochio, and so many others were there, all cheering and clapping and yelling, "Happy Birthday, Regina!"

The Queen put a hand on her heart to stop the wild beating. "You guys scared the hell out of me!" she cried as Snow, Tink, Robin, and Henry ran forward for a group hug.

"Sorry," they all apologized together with gleams in their eyes. Everyone went to sit down except Robin who took Regina's hand and led her to a seat beside him.

"I was right," he said with a smile. "You look beautiful in blue."

"Why thank you," Regina said with a dramatic bow of her head, earning a laugh from Robin.

Servants brought in food that smelled amazing. Regina's stomach grumbled as pancakes, bacon, eggs, and porridge was set on her plate and her cup was filled with warm hot chocolate. Everyone raised their glasses of steaming cocoa and Snow White called out, "Cheers to Regina for her birthday and creating Storybrooke so that we could know of this delicious food. Long live the Queen!"

"Long live the Queen!" everyone else chimed in and their feast began.

Regina knew she had never felt more welcomed by the good of the Enchanted Forest than she did now. Everyone she was eating with had all been her enemies for so long and it was refreshing to finally be able to enjoy their company, to laugh and talk with them as if they'd all been friends for as long as any of them could remember.

It was about two thirds through the meal when a thought donned on Regina and she turned to Robin. She leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Do you think we should tell them?"

"Tell them what?" he asked quietly.

"About the baby," she answered, casting a glance at everyone to see them staring at her for sharing secrets with the thief.

Robin shrugged his shoulders. "I'm alright with it if you are."

Regina nodded and took a big breath, trying to push away her thoughts of doubt. She kept telling herself she wanted everyone to know, especially now that everyone who belonged in the Enchanted Forest was home. Snow White deserved to know, Tinkerbelle especially deserved to know. The Queen stood up and everyone quit talking instantly, turning their attention to her with questioning expressions on her face.

Henry smiled from across the table as if he already knew what this was going to be about.

She took another breath and closed her eyes. "I figured I should tell you all this since we're already gathered here and it would be much less tiring to say so now rather than hunt you all down later."

When everyone continued to stare at her she turned to Robin with a furious blush overtaking her features and pulled him to his feet. Everyone gasped with looks of surprise and the whispers Regina heard going around were not quiet enough. "Marriage" and "engaged" seemed to be the majority of the words she heard.

"Robin and I are expecting a baby," she announced, watching as everyone's surprised faces changed to show even more elation and shock. She suddenly felt very sensitive about the fact that this baby had been created out of wedlock.

Then, everyone started clapping and cheering and whooping and whistling. Regina couldn't help but smile then as they all threw out their congratulations. Her eyes watched everyone. Some of them looked like they already knew about the secret relationship going on between the thief and the Queen, such as Snow White, Tinkerbelle, and even Granny for example. A few looked utterly surprised, like Emma who was trying to interrogate an equally confused Hook about the subject, both of them smiling all the same out of happiness.

As the congratulations went on, Regina couldn't help but, for the first time, feel truly accepted and loved by everyone at that table.


	28. Chapter 28

After breakfast was finished and Regina had received all of her congratulations from everyone, the day began. Robin and his merry men took Charming off with them to search for Roland, Emma had gone off to practice her magic by herself (she had refused help from Regina), and so Regina got up from the table to head towards the library where she could peacefully do more research on Oz and the Wicked Witch. She hoped that Belle and Baelfire got back with news of Rumplestiltskin soon because if anything, he would know more about the Witch than any of the books Regina had to read.

As she was walking down the hallway towards the library, two voices began to call her name. "Regina! Regina!" Her heart instantly sunk and she felt suddenly annoyed as she turned around to face Snow White and Tinkerbelle.

"Make it fast, I've got a busy schedule." She already knew what this was going to be about.

Both girls ran over and took the Queen by the hands and were giggling excitedly. "Why didn't you tell us sooner that you were expecting?" asked Tinkerbelle.

Regina gave the fairy a look. "Because I knew this was the exact reaction from you five-year-olds that I was going to get. Now, please, leave me be. I have a job to do and you guys are wasting my time acting like teenagers."

"Come on, Regina. You don't have to act like you don't love him. Everyone can already tell something is going on between the two of you, anyways and today just confirmed it for the entire castle. It's so exciting that you're having a baby!" exclaimed Snow White as she squeezed Regina's hand. "Now our children can grow up together."

"It does interest me though, why have a baby now?" asked Tinkerbelle.

Regina tore her arms away from the fairy and the princess before she began to speedily walk down the hallway. That had to be her question. She had to ask. "I'm done with this conversation."

"Oh," Tinkerbelle said as she began to understand. The two of them began to trot after the Queen's brisk pace. "It wasn't supposed to happen, was it?"

"No. Now please go away," snapped Regina as she crossed her arms over her chest while she walked.

"Sorry," Tinkerbelle apologized. "The two of you seemed so happy about it though."

Regina looked over her shoulder to find the two of them still following her. She stopped and turned around to face the two younger women. "We are," she said with a nod of her head. "It's just sometimes I wonder if the baby is not a good thing." The Queen put a hand on her stomach. "I don't want the Witch to take her away like she took Roland."

"_Her?_" squealed out Snow White. She ran forwards and grabbed Regina's hands again, Tinkerbelle following in suit. "You're having a girl?"

"Yes. Belle used that medallion that sways north to south for a boy and west to east for a girl," Regina answered.

"I wondered where that went! Charming and I have been searching all over for it so that we can find the gender of our boy. It was his mother's…" she said and looked up at Regina before shaking her head to clear away her thoughts. "The Witch isn't going to take your baby and we will find Roland. Everything will be okay, Regina."

"Snow is right. Everything will work out. You're going to get your happy ending," Tinkerbelle told Regina.

Snow White smiled and put her hands on the Queen's shoulders. "You have to work for happiness, Regina. It doesn't come easily in many cases. Charming and I had to wait for twenty-eight years to get our happy ending, and even longer at that. And now, in order for us to be completely happy, the only thing we need to see is your happy ending take place. Yours and Emma's. That's all we care about now."

"I was trapped in Neverland for so many years by the Blue Fairy, Regina," Tinkerbelle went on. "My wings were ripped from me and I was banished to a land where I could never leave. Where I would always be haunted by the magic that I stole. But you know what, for years I regretted helping you find Robin and then, when we all were returned to the Enchanted Forest…when you were rescued by the man with the lion tattoo, I could feel it. I could feel it, Blue could feel it and that day right before I visited you was when she gave me my wings back. Like Snow, the only way to complete my happiness is to see you earn yours. And I am going to help that happen. This Witch is only a speedbump in the road. She will be defeated."

Somehow, their words both tore Regina down and built her up all at once. "But I held you away from your happiness for so long. Why would you want to help me?"

"You've changed," Snow White and Tinkerbelle said, almost in perfect unison.

"You're not the Evil Queen anymore, Regina. You are that woman again…the woman who saved me from dying on that horse," Snow White went on. "I don't see darkness inside of you anymore. I only see light."

At their words, Regina couldn't help but smile and she certainly couldn't help but feel tears beginning to pool up inside of her eyes. She leaned forward and pulled both Tinkerbelle and Snow White into a hug. She could feel their shock that she was doing this, but eventually, she felt four arms wrap around her to embrace her back. "Thank you," she whispered to them.

"It's our pleasure," Tinkerbelle responded and the three of them pulled away from each other.

Regina looked over at Snow to find the younger woman smiling up at her. "What?" she asked.

Snow White simply shrugged her shoulders. "I was just wondering if you and Robin had discussed, you know, marriage yet?"

"Why, are you planning to get back at me by crashing my wedding?" Regina asked and all three of them ended up laughing before she simply shook her head. "No, we haven't. The subject hasn't come up. I'm not sure if I'm ready for marriage yet. Not until we find Roland and destroy the Wicked Witch."

"So you're saying that it has crossed your mind before?" asked Tinkerbelle hopefully.

Regina shrugged. "Actually, no. I mean, I've thought of it once or twice but usually in the sense of the fact that we're expecting outside of wedlock."

"It's not that unusual, you know," Snow White said. "Henry was born that way."

"I know," Regina said and gently shook her head. "Well, I really should be getting to the library and do my research on Zelena if you guys ever want to see that wedding."

Tinkerbelle and Snow White squealed quietly to each other at her words before trying their best to compose themselves. "Alright, well, we'll let you get to it."

Regina listened as the two of them walked in the opposite direction of her and she just rolled her eyes as she listened to their excited whispering that bounced off the walls and into her ears. She couldn't hear their words but she had a pretty good idea about the subject of their whispered conversation. The further she got from them though, the harder it was to hear and when she shut herself inside of the library, she couldn't hear them any longer.

Regina walked over to the table that sat in the center of the room, and flipped open one of the large, leather-bound books about Oz, the great Emerald City. She flipped through page after page, reading up on the foundations of Oz, on the Great Wizard, the four witches of the North, South, East, and West. There was even a prophecy on how one great evil would overthrow a wicked. Then she got to the part about the magic that the four witches possessed. It was said that the magic they held was very powerful and unique from many. Usually, the magic was light magic but due to envy, one of the Witches, the Witch of the West had become envious of a little girl named Dorothy. It was said that her skin had turned green once before due to envy, but the book was unsure of why, that the magic powers given to her by the Witches of the North, South, and East had fixed that. When the little girl came, though, the West Witch had become jealous and began to fear that she was the wicked and the prophecy said that a girl swept up in a tornado would defeat the wicked. Surely, it was Dorothy and so her skin turned green again out of jealousy. The Witch tried to kill Dorothy but a bucket of water had made her melt. Somehow, the Witch had sprung back to life and it was said that for years she ruled over Oz, sending her three "sisters" to far off lands, imprisoning them so they could not stop her. She turned to Great Wizard of Oz into one of her flying monkeys and together they took Oz under their rule.

The book went on to mention all of the horrible things the Witch did, things much like Regina, fueled by envy rather than revenge. She killed villages, she tortured people, murdered her own henchmen when they failed her, and then, a peculiar paragraph caught Regina's eye. It was about her. It said that the Witch had a half-sister, a queen by the name of Regina, who was just as cruel as the Witch. It said that the Queen had cast a curse on her land that had sent everyone to another. During that time, it was said that Zelena had found a way to the land her sister had taken everyone away from. As soon as she arrived in the Queen's castle, to find the land completely vacant, she had been frozen in time due to her mother's spell. A savior had broken the Curse twenty-eight years later and Zelena had been thawed from time and her final act of envy was to be unleashed, not on an innocent girl named Dorothy but on the Evil Queen of the Enchanted Forest herself.

Regina slammed the book shut and threw it against the wall. She put her head in her hands and focused on calming her beating heart. She had been trying to compose herself when all of a sudden, the doors to the library opened.

"They said I would find you in here," a familiar voice said and Regina whirled around to see Henry. "Mom, you don't look to good."

"I'm just a little stressed out is all. Don't worry about me, dear," she said and she pulled a chair out from the table so that Henry could sit beside her.

He took a seat and held up something in his hands. "Snow White found this," he said and it was his old book of stories that had made him believe in the classic fairy tales in the first place. He flipped the book open and ran his fingers over a picture. "You don't look like how I imagined you in this land."

"What do you mean?" Regina asked as she turned to face her son.

Henry flipped the book around and Regina saw a cartoon version of herself the day she had crashed Snow White and Prince Charming's wedding. She was clad in a dark cape with her black hair in a pony tail on the top of her head. He flipped a few pages this way and that and each time she was always wearing dark clothing with her hair in some bizarre up-do. "You don't dress like the Evil Queen anymore."

"Of course I don't," Regina said with a shake of her head. "I'm not _her_ anymore. I'm simply Queen Regina now."

"Does that mean I have to call you Your Majesty?" Henry asked with a smile.

Regina chuckled and shook her head. "No, dear, you can still call me Mom."

Henry nodded and sat back in his chair, eying Regina curiously. She figured she must have looked very different from what he'd seen her as for his first decade of life—the mayor of Storybrooke who always dressed in business clothing and now he was seeing her in a full-out gown. "I can't believe I'm a prince now and the heir to several kingdoms," he said.

"That's right, you are. Let's see, you are an heir to my father's kingdom, your mother's which also includes mine and Snow's, Charming's kingdom, you could rule Neverland, though I think you have had enough of that place, and even the kingdom in Wonderland. And if you wanted to get extremely technical, there is the possibility that one day you could even be ruler over King Mitus's kingdom because I made your grandfather and Princess Abigail married in Storybrooke."

"That's an even longer list of what I had put together," Henry said with raised eyebrows, his face glowing as he thought of all the wonderful possibilities he had to rule one day. "Think I'll ever get the chance?"

"Considering the fact that you are the firstborn son of Emma, I think you have your best chance at ruling this very castle one day," Regina said and gestured all around her. "Although, you'll have to go through at least three generations of kings and queens before you…me, Snow White and Charming, and your mother." Regina brushed a strand of hair out of her face as she smiled at her boy.

Henry gave an exaggerated sigh, as if this news upset him, but Regina knew he was happy enough with just being a prince. Unexpectedly he reached forward and held a lock of Regina's hair in his hand. "I never realized how long your hair was in this land compared to how short it was in Storybrooke."

Regina looked down at her hair, which reached her mid-back and looked back up at Henry. "It's much longer here, yes, but as you know from your history lessons in school, in medieval times women always wore their hair longer."

It struck Regina weird to consider herself suddenly back in time in a way, as she realized how unadvanced her land was from Storybrooke for the first time. It was also strange how for thousands of years, while the Land without Magic progressed in technology, the Enchanted Forest and all other realms had remained the same—stuck in one time frame without really moving forward. In a way, Regina found it odd she'd probably never use a phone or a computer again, but she was glad that she was back home where she belonged. Storybrooke had become a burden after a while.

"True. I actually like it long better," Henry said as he let the lock of hair fall back into place around her shoulders. "It makes you look younger and more…like a queen."

"Well thank you," Regina said with a small laugh. She was glad for the compliment because it donned on her now that she was thirty-seven and she had noticed in Storybrooke she had been starting to show her age. "The princely clothes are suiting you as well. You look all grown up. You're no longer the little boy I left in New York. Speaking of, why don't you tell me what went on while you were away."

Henry nodded eagerly and began, "Well, New York was _awesome_…the pizza, the Yankees, school," he went on and before he could trail off too far, Regina just laughed and pulled him to her for a hug.

"Woah, slow down. I want to hear it all. The entire year," she said.

Henry stopped, thankfully, and was quiet a moment, deep in thought. "I found an apple tree in Central Park that looked exactly like the one that was by your office, of course, I didn't know that then but now I do. And guess what? I got pretty good at math!"

"No!" Regina exclaimed with shock. She remembered the times when she would have to sit down for at least an hour with her adopted son and help him with his math homework. It had always ended in a big fight with lots of yelling from the both of them and it had always been the time she dreaded most with her boy.

"_Pretty _good," Henry said. "Not like it matters now, though. What did I miss here besides a new sister?" he asked.

"Nothing much. Nothing that really matters now," Regina said with a shrug.

"What about Robin? Don't I get to know about him?" Henry asked hopefully, his dark eyes brightening up.

"Let's stay focused on New York. Tell me about the pizza," Regina said, avoiding his question with a small smile.

Henry rolled his eyes and gestured his arms outwards. "Come on Mom! Please, tell me about him? I want to hear it!"

Regina sighed and caved in. "Robin and I met when he saved my life from a few of the knights here at the castle who were trying to kill me. He took me to Sherwood Forest and tended to my wounds for about a week. When Snow and Charming found me, they brought him, his son, and his merry men with us as extra protection since they had fired all of the knights who had been involved with trying to put an end to me. I grew closer to him through his son and one thing led to another…well, here we are."

"He sounds amazing," Henry said. "Do you think he's your true love?"

The Queen smiled and shook her head. "I know he is. You see, one night long ago…" she said and took the book from her hands, wondering if the story was inside. She had never really taken the time to rummage through the pages, only once when she'd been trying to discover if Emma was the savior or not. As she flipped through she found it and Henry jumped back in his chair.

"That story wasn't in there before," Henry said.

Regina flipped through a few more pages of his storybook and found a whole new chapter about life in Storybrooke, and after the Curse had been broken. "It looks like new stories are being written."

"Woah," Henry exclaimed and for a moment, he seemed like that ten-year-old boy again. He shook his head. "Okay, sorry. I'm going to investigate that later. Go on with your story."

"Well, one night, I was standing in the balcony of my bed chambers. I was so angry with the world. I was angry at Snow and my mother for Daniel's death, at the King for not loving me, at Rumplestiltskin because he…well, for so many reasons. I just began to punch the metal frame on the balcony and I eventually hit it so hard, it fell and I tumbled down with it. Minutes before I hit the ground, a fairy saved me. Tinkerbelle."

"The blonde fairy dressed in green?" Henry confirmed. "Like, from Peter Pan's story…erm, the one where he isn't evil."

Regina nodded. "Yes, that one, although she has a lot to do with the real story too. Anyways, Tinkerbelle saved my life that night and we began to talk. When we got around the subject of how unhappy I was with my new marriage and position as Queen, she offered to show me a way to find happiness. Desperate, I took the offer and Tinkerbelle told me she was going to find love for me. So the next night, she visited me with a pouch in her hands that she said contained pixie dust. Pixie dust is a lot different than fairy dust and is much more powerful. So, she sprinkled some pixie dust and a trail was born from my castle to a distant place in the castle. We flew through the air and landed near this tavern. When we approached the door, Tinkerbelle pointed inside and asked me if I could see the man with the lion tattoo on his forearm. She told me that he was my true love, my soul mate even and that we were destined to be together. All I had to do was introduce myself. So she left and I stood outside of the tavern for a moment before opening the door. But as I did all of my confidence melted away and I ran back to the castle, back to solitude…back to darkness. Tinkerbelle lost her wings for stealing pixie dust and was banished to Neverland whereas I soon after became the Evil Queen."

Regina showed him the picture of the cartoon arm stretched out for another drink that displayed the ink tattoo on the forearm with a lion on it. Henry gaped at the picture before looking up at Regina. "So, let me guess, Robin Hood has the lion tattoo."

"Yes, he does."

"So he's your soul mate," Henry said and it wasn't exactly a question.

Regina nodded. "Yes."

Henry closed the book slowly before grinning up at the Queen. "That's amazing! Robin Hood sounds awesome. Do you think he will teach me how to shoot a bow and arrow?"

"I'd be honored to," came a voice from the library and both mother and son turned to see Robin Hood braced up against the doorway. He smiled and walked over to the two of them, placing a kiss on Regina's head and patting Henry on the shoulder. "I love hearing that story, but I especially like the part where we do eventually meet."

"Me too," Regina agreed and then her face fell. "Any luck finding Roland?"

Robin just shook his head. "No, not a trace of him." He looked lost in thought a moment, his eyes clouded over with sadness before he shook himself out of it. "Well, anyways, how about I teach a queen and prince how to shoot? I've been longing to teach royalty how to do such a thing."

"Alright!" Henry exclaimed as he stood up and when he saw his mother's saddened expression as she slowly got to her own feet he wrapped his arms around her for a hug. "You'll find Roland, Mom. Don't give up hope."

"You know what'll cheer you up, Regina?" asked Robin, but she saw in his eyes, past that smile that he was equally as scared and sad as she was. "Pretending you're putting an arrow through the Witch's heart. Come on."

With that the trio left the library and headed outside to the castle's archery range.

* * *

**A/N: Tink, Snow, and Henry totally ship Outlaw Queen haha! I needed to build a little more on those friendships plus mother/son bonding as well so this was kind of uneventful. This is yet another calm before the storm, as we all know it, as will be the next few chapters. So enjoy!**


	29. Chapter 29

**A/N: This chapter made me extremely sad. You'll see what I mean when you're through reading.**

* * *

Despite the worries that clung close to Regina's heart, she couldn't help but feel relieved the moment she stepped outside. The day was slightly chilly when the breeze blew, but the sun was high in the sky and the sky as crystal clear as ocean waters. She decided to enjoy being outside while it lasted, because she knew in the last stages of her pregnancy, she'd want nothing more than to sit in bed all day.

Robin led Regina and Henry to the archery range, which was located near the knight barracks. She had never visited this part of her castle, not even when she had been the sole ruler of the kingdom. Being around her soldiers had never been an interest of hers, unless she absolutely needed to talk to them, so this was as new of an experience for her as it was Henry.

"Is this where your men have been staying?" Regina asked Robin as they entered the range to see a few of the merry men she recognized practicing. Across the field, she could see others sparring with Snow White and Prince Charming's army.

"Most of them, yes, although I prefer to keep Little John, Much, and Friar Tuck with me in the castle," he said and his face drooped. "They were the ones to keep watch over Roland and now they're the ones who lead search parties, unless I'm there with them."

As they entered the range, Little John came sauntering over to them. "Any luck?" he asked Robin.

The thief simply shook his head and heaved a sigh. "Not yet, but we have not given up hope. We will find Roland."

Little John gave his best friend a pat on the shoulder and motioned towards Henry before offering him a hand. "Hello there, my boy. Word is that you're Prince Henry II, heir to _many _kingdoms. My name is Little John. At your service." The hulk of a man stooped into a low bow.

"Henry works just fine, sir. It's a pleasure to meet you," Henry said as Little John stood up and he shook the man's hand. Regina could see from the look of excitement on her son's face that he was rather enjoying his introduction to Little John.

Little John gave Henry a pat on the shoulders before he turned to Regina and bowed. "Always an honor, Your Majesty."

Regina smiled at Little John. "You can save the formalities, John. I'm simply Regina, nothing more."

The giant man nodded and wrapped a large arm around Robin's neck, pulling him in for a side hug. "Yes, well I suppose you _do _hang out with this rascal after all. Congratulations on the baby, might I add. I've been hearing lots of it. What are you guys doing out here?"

"Thank you, my friend," Robin said as he wrestled himself away from Little John's obviously tight hold. "I came to teach the boy and his mother a thing or two about archery."

Little John threw his head back and let out a bellowing laugh. "Oh dear. You two are in for it. Robin Hood, the best archer in all the realms, gets very cocky when you put a bow in his hands but he is the best teacher I have ever come across. Good luck. I'll leave the three of you to it."

With that Little John walked away, leaving Robin just shaking his head. "He could talk your leg off for hours if you let him," he said. "Come with me."

Robin led them across the field to a rack that held wooden bows. He carefully picked over the vast options available, finding a beautiful bow crafted out of a dark wood for Henry and a lighter one for Regina. "These bows are built very similar and their draw weights should fit their user." The thief motioned for Henry. "Come here, boy."

Henry followed Robin a few steps forward to a line on the ground made from red paint. The thief slung a quiver of arrows over Henry's back and held one out to him.

"Do you know how to knock an arrow?" he asked.

Henry simply shook his head to say he didn't.

"Alright, well, let me show you and then you can try it on your own." Robin walked back over to the rack and picked up a random bow before snatching an arrow from Henry's quiver. "Alright, so you see how the arrow has three feathers? Well, the feather, or fletching, that does not match up with another will go on the outside facing you. The knock, this little v-shaped thing right here, hooks right under this little bump on the bowstring, which is also called a knock. Then, you want to set the tip of the arrow in the knock locator, like this so that the arrow is level all the way across. Okay. You try."

Henry took another moment to inspect the way Robin had knocked his arrow before using the one in his hands, fumbling around with it awkwardly as he tried to fit it on the knock. After dropping it once and picking it up he managed to attach the arrow on the right way and fit it into the knock locator. "Hey, I did it," Henry exclaimed and turned around to show Regina his work.

"Very good," she praised with a small chuckle, finding it amusing that her son was learning archery and his first lesson was from the man who had been an icon of archers for a long time.

"Alright, nice job," Robin said. "Now you're ready to pull back the string and aim. Watch me closely." With that the thief picked up his bow. "Put your feet shoulder width apart. Very good. Now, use your dominant arm to grasp on to the string just below the knock with three fingers. Of course, your other hand, goes around the grip of the bow and you hold it out in front of you like this. Make sure the inside of your elbow isn't facing upwards because you'll hit your arm with the string and it'll hurt if that happens. Good. Okay, next pull the string back so that your index finger is anchored in the crook of your mouth and your thumb is in the little hitch of your jaw line. Got it? Great, then you aim at the target, yes the one directly in front of you. When you think you're good just release the string."

Regina watched curiously as Henry mimicked Robin's stance, watching him a few times to make sure he'd gotten it right. Then, he aimed at the target, took a big breath and slowly released his arrow. It smacked the target with a loud thud, barely missing the bull's eye ring by about an inch or two. Robin's eyebrows shut up.

"I thought you said you'd never shot before?" he asked.

Henry grinned up at him excitedly. "I haven't. Beginner's luck, perhaps?"

"Or you're just a natural. Why don't you try again, this time without my help," Robin suggested and handed him the arrow he'd used to knock his own bow.

"Alright," Henry said enthusiastically and practiced knocking the arrow again.

Robin hung his bow up on the rack and took a seat beside Regina in the grass. The two of them watched silently as Henry set up his shot again, and Regina just shook her head and smiled when she saw that her son seemed to be going over the steps mentally. Eventually, he released another arrow and it landed right where his other one had, perhaps a little to the left.

"Very nice, Henry. That means you're being consistent and using all the right techniques. Now you see how your arrow is just a bit under the bull's eye ring? Adjust your aim so it's a little higher and you should hit your mark," Robin instructed and he turned back to Regina with a grin as Henry began to set up his third shot. "Your boy is a natural."

"He comes from a long line or royalty," Regina reminded him. "Shooting bows, horseback riding, and sword fighting run in his family for generations."

"True."

Henry pulled his arm back to release his third arrow when shouting voices suddenly came from the opposite side of the field towards the castle. The three of them jumped up, Henry releasing his third arrow by surprise and having it land very far off from his target. He threw down his bow and took off towards the castle.

"Henry!" Regina called and dashed after her son.

"Regina! It's not wise to run while you're pregnant!" Robin called and dashed after the Queen.

When he reached her, without much difficulty since she had a hay day tripping over her skirts, he grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "Robin, let go. If that's the Witch I can't let Henry run off unprotected."

"Usually, I can feel when there's danger and this doesn't feel dangerous. Here comes Little John, let's see what news he brings," Robin said and the both of them looked up to see the large man running towards them.

"What is it?" Regina asked before he was even half way to them.

He stopped in front of them, pausing a moment to catch his breath before gesturing wildly at the castle. "Belle, she has returned. With Rumplestiltskin. Or…I think…I have no idea what it is but there's something really wrong with him. It's hard to explain but Regina, they need you. They need your magic. Quickly!"

With a wordless look at one another, Regina and Robin set off at a quick pace after Little John who led them through the courtyards and barracks right up to the castle gates, where they were immediately let inside. The giant man proceeded to lead them down a vast corridor, down this hallway and that until they reached the throne room. When the doors were opened for them, they were greeted with the scene of Belle and Emma on the floor, yelling the names of two men even though there was only one on the ground.

"Rumple!"

"Neal!"

Everyone else was gathered and Henry, who was hugged in the arms of Snow White, was looking down in horror at the man who's face as covered from Regina's view with big tears pooling in his eyes and leaking down his cheeks. Robin and Regina dashed over, the Queen collapsing on the floor next to Belle.

"Calm down for one moment and tell me what's going on," she called out, causing everyone's chatter in the room to become absolutely silent.

Belle moved away from the man's face and Regina recoiled in shock at what was going on. One second, the face of the man was clearly Rumplestiltskin's and the next, it morphed into the younger face of Baelfire, his son. Regina put a hand on her heart to stop the rapid beating.

"Belle, what happened?" she repeated, grabbing the wrists of the younger girl who looked up at her with tears in her eyes.

"Bae and I…we found a way to bring him back. A key. A key to the Dark One's vault. Bae and I went with the help of an enchanted candlestick, uh, Lumiere, and when Bae put the key in the vault Rumplestiltskin came back. He…he formed out of this dark goo or something. Bae's hand got burnt by the key and well, as soon as Rumplestiltskin had completely remerged from the black stuff…it's like they are one body. And all that comes out is crazy talk." She heaved a sigh and took her hands away from Regina's grasp. "Sorry, I know I sound crazy, I just…I don't know what to do. This wasn't in the books."

"What do you mean crazy talk?" Regina asked.

Belle turned back to the man who was still morphing between two people and put her hand on his cheek. "Rumple? Rumple say something."

At her touch, the face stayed as Rumplestiltskin's and he half-sat up, bracing himself on his elbows. A knowing smile formed on his face as he looked around at everyone. "_All the voices inside my head will be gone when I'm dead," _he chanted in a sing-song voice.

"That's all he does. He says riddles and when I brought him here, he'll on say that," Belle told Regina. "What do I do?"

"I have an idea…I don't know if it will work but I need both of you to cooperate," Regina responded and focused her intense glare on Emma. "That includes you, Miss Swan."

"What do we have to do?" asked Emma.

"When his face morphs into Rumple's, Belle, give him true love's kiss. Emma, when his face turns to Bae's, do the same. Maybe we can…unmerge them."

Emma gave the Queen a glare. "You can't—"

"There is no room!" Rumplestiltskin chanted. "There is no room. There is no room."

"Just work with me! It is just one kiss. If you want both of them alive you're just going to have to do it," she snapped out at the savior. "Besides, you have light magic. It may not even need to be true love that brings Baelfire back."

When the man's face turned to Rumplestiltskin, Belle touched his cheeks tenderly and leaned down, placing a kiss on his lips. When she pulled away, everyone seemed to hold their breath and waited. Nothing happened.

After a second, Bae showed up and Emma, after a moment's hesitation bent down and did the same. A bright light shone across the room for one brief moment before vanishing again and the morphing stopped. Baelfire sat up but the merge had not been completed. Then, he began to breathe hard and scream. He sat up and clutched Emma's arm.

"Is he inside you?" asked Emma. "Is Rumple still there?"

"I hear my father's voice in my head!" Baelfire responded, gasping and clutching the side of his head. "He's in there. He's in me."

"He said there was no room. He meant you," Emma went on and Regina watched as realization struck her—struck everyone—and tears began to leak down the savior's face. Regina couldn't help but feel moved by the scene as well and did her best to compose herself before she cried in front of everyone.

"I need you to help me, Emma," Baelfire gasped. "Use your magic. Separate me from my father."

"Are you kidding me? You'll die!" Emma exclaimed.

Baelfire shook his head furiously and looked Emma in the eyes before shifting his gaze to Regina. "You need my dad more than me to figure out how to stop the Wicked Witch. Save everyone. Because…because eventually she'll have to kill you all…everyone to stop Regina from ever being happy. Do it! _Please._"

Baelfire held his hands out towards Emma and the savior delicately took them in her own, clamping down tightly on them and closing her eyes. Her brow furrowed with obvious concentration. Regina, even though hesitant about doing so, put her hand on Emma's shoulder. The two of them had always been stronger together. Regina watched as Baelfire's face contorted into pain and then finally, Rumplestiltskin's face shone through. There was a blinding flash of light and it was Rumple sitting in front of Emma. Regina looked around and found that Baelfire had been thrown out of the body at least three feet away. Emma crawled over to him but Regina stayed where she was.

"Neal?" Emma asked as she picked up his head and cradled it in her lap. "Neal, are you okay?"

"What have you done?" asked Rumplestiltskin breathlessly as he crawled to his dying son's side.

Baelfire reached out and put a hand on his father's arm. "It's okay, papa. I did what I needed to do."

"But why?" Rumple questioned and for the first time in knowing the Dark One, there were big tears in his eyes. She'd never seen him cry before.

"You can stop the Witch. You can put an end to the greatest wicked. You can save everyone in this castle. Most importantly, you can protect the most powerful magic of all," Baelfire said and he pointed to Regina with a shaky finger.

The Queen tipped her head to one side as she wiped away tears that tried to leak out of her eyes. She followed his finger again and again to her and it was about the fifth time that she realized he wasn't pointing _at _her, he was pointing at her stomach. The baby. Her daughter.

"Zelena…she did this?" Rumplestiltskin asked with a snarl. "I should have killed her when I had the chance."

"What are you talking about?" Regina breathed out, too awestruck to speak in a normal tone. "What is all of this about?" It donned on her now. This was more important than the Witch destroying Regina's happiness. This had to do with Regina's baby.

"Please tell me you can save him, right? There has to be a way!" Emma exclaimed as she gestured towards Baelfire.

"It's too late now," Rumplestiltskin said as he got to his feet and wiped away tears with the sleeves of his cloak.

Everyone looked down into the dulling eyes of Baelfire and there wasn't a dry eye anymore. Even Regina could feel tears trickling down her cheeks and she wiped and wiped at her face but no matter how hard she tried, she was crying. She felt hands run up and down her back and looked to see Robin beside her. In fact, everyone who had a dearly loved was hugging on each other.

Henry collapsed beside Emma. "Dad," he whimpered. "Dad don't leave me."

"Henry," Baelfire whispered as he took his son's hand and kissed it. "Look at me, my son. Emma and Regina are going to take care of you. They love you so much and they will take care of you…better than I ever could."

"Dad you were going to teach me how to sword fight. You were going to teach me how to ride horses!" Henry exclaimed with tears running down his cheeks. "I love you, dad."

"There will be others….others who will teach you. I love you, Henry. I love you so much."

"Just hang in there, please. Stay for me…for Henry," Emma whimpered as she rested her head on Bae's chest.

"It's okay, Emma. I'm doing this for you and for him." Baelfire's shaking arm reached into the pockets of his vest and he pulled out a silver necklace. It served no significance to Regina, but it obviously held a special place in Emma's heart. "Take it. Go find Tallahassee with someone else. I'll be watching over you and Henry always. I promise. Just…you promise me that you and Henry will be happy."

Tears rolled down Emma's cheeks and that was the first time Regina had seen her truly cry besides the other time when they had almost lost Henry to a sleeping curse. "I promise," she sobbed. "I promise."

"No!" Rumple cried as he collapsed next to Emma again. "I can fix this! I can fix it! Bae…Bae, no."

"You can't!" Baelfire exclaimed. "You can't! Thank you, papa for showing me what it is to make a true sacrifice. This is about saving the ones that you love. Saving your family and friends. Saving good. Saving magic, no matter…no matter how many times it's torn apart families…you need it. You need pure magic and that's what I'm saving. I am saving love."

"No…" Rumplestiltskin said and he took his son's hand in his own. "You can't Bae. You can't go."

"It's my turn, now," he said, his voice barely even a whisper. He was almost gone.

"No, I don't know what I'd do without you," Rumplestiltskin choked out, tears rolling down his cheeks in the same fashion as they were on Emma and Henry's face. "I love you, son."

"I love you too," Bae mouthed. "Now let go."

With that, Baelfire breathed his last and he lay completely still in Emma's arms. Regina threw herself into Robin's arms and cried. Not only had Baelfire made a sacrifice to save his own family, but he had died to save her baby. All of those years he had spent, hating the evil and magic that his father had become, that she had become…he had died to save those very people.

He had done that for her, not just for his family.

_For me. For my baby. For love. _

"Neal!" cried Emma as she buried her head in his chest.

"Dad!" Henry sobbed as he pulled himself into Emma's lap.

"Son!" Rumple choked and Belle encased him in her own embrace.

Everyone just sobbed and sobbed for the loss of a true hero who had died to save them all. Regina felt her heart beginning to ache again, that same ache that had overcome her when she'd first kissed Robin, the time after they'd first made love,, and now she was feeling it again because someone had died to save her happiness.

_Love is good._

_Magic is good._

_The Witch will die._


	30. Chapter 30

"It was a beautiful service," Regina said as she sat down at the long table that only contained Rumplestiltskin. Everyone had gone on their daily duties. The merry men were on another search for Roland and Regina had seen Belle, Emma, Snow White, Charming, and Henry escape to go comfort each other after the funeral.

The service truly had been beautiful. It was held underneath a gazebo that was decorated with beautiful white roses all aroudn. A soft drizzle had been falling but in the distance, there was a rainbow which Henry had claimed was his father watching. After the funeral, though, the storm had picked up and outside of the castle that they were currently in, thunder boomed and rain pattered on the windows.

Rumplestiltskin looked up at Regina, his muddy-green face clouded of all emotions. His eyes spoke for him though, he clearly didn't want to talk but Regina needed answers. For the last two days, Baelfire's words had been nagging at her. There was more than what met the eye about the Wicked Witch, something those books she'd been reading hadn't explained.

"You have certainly changed in more ways than one," Rumplestiltskin said, his gaze darkening. "I remember a time when the Evil Queen wouldn't have cared less if my son had died."

"People can change other people," Regina responded as she ran her fingers over the smooth table cloth before looking up at Rumplestiltskin.

The Dark One got an impish smile on his face. "So I heard you were running around with Robin Hood. Dearie, you are quite the rebellious one aren't you. Your mother killed your stable boy friend and next thing you know, you're climbing into bed with a homeless thief and his band of imbeciles. It's time your older sister takes her place in punishing you."

Regina felt anger flash through her but she did her best to swallow it down. It didn't work. There was always that spark of quick anger inside of the Queen, no matter how good she was. "For as long as I can remember, you have been by my side whispering words like that in my ear. You used my anger and manipulated me with it to get what you wanted and for what? Your son you tried so hard to bring back into your life for hundreds of years is dead. You were right Rumplestiltskin, all magic comes with a price and you have just paid that price."

With an inhuman speed the Dark One was standing over Regina, his hand at Regina's throat. "Don't you speak to me that way, dearie. You may have changed but I am still as dark as they come." He released his grip on her and settled back down in the chair. "I might also remind you that I created that dark curse for you so you could have your happy ending."

"I got no happiness from that curse," Regina hissed. "I only got suffering."

"No, the outcome of that curse got you your happy ending. Pan sent us back here where you met your twue love!" he exclaimed in his impish tone, mispronouncing true in a mocking tone. "And now, as soon as you defeat the Wicked Witch and get the thief's rascally little boy back, you'll be one big happy family just in time for a baby. How sweet. See? I did all of that for you."

"You did all of that for yourself with the promise I'd find happiness to make me cast your stupid curse," Regina snapped. She glared hard at the Dark One. "But I'm not here to argue with you. I was here to offer my condolences and also because I have a few questions about my sister."

The Dark One stuck his nose up in a snobbish manner. "You said it yourself, you're not interested in making deals with me."

"This isn't a deal. This is revenge for you and a way to save my loved ones for me. Baelfire sacrificed himself so _you _could tell us what to do about her, Rumple. I don't think you would let your boy's death go in vain, would you?" she asked.

Rumplestiltskin's facial expression changed in a heartbeat, just one flash and all of his sadness was there before it disappeared. "Fine. I'll tell you, but on one occasion."

"What?"

"I get to know the name of the child who will grow up to be the most powerful magical being in the past, present, and future," Rumple said and gave a high-pitched laugh.

Regina tipped her head to one side. "Why does her name matter? She's not going to be the next generation savior of a dark curse is she?"

The Dark One rolled his eyes. "I've foreseen the future. Pan's curse was the last one we'll ever see in this land for at least a millennia. I just want to have bragging rights to knowing her name before anyone else, that's all."

"I will give you her name…eventually but I haven't really picked one out yet. It hasn't been on my mind as of late," Regina admitted and hung her head, hoping it wouldn't put a damper on the deal-making.

"I think you know her name, dearie. Think long and hard. What'll it be? Surely something strong, something to recognize the child's purity," Rumplestiltskin said.

The Queen placed a hand over her belly and closed her eyes. Her brow furrowed as she deepened her mind, digging through names. It had to start with an _R_ to fit with Regina, Robin, and Roland, but the Dark One was right. Her baby had to have a pure name, something that embraced her innocence.

Regna listened to the steady beat of the rain as she thought and suddenly, an idea popped into her head. She knew just how to name her baby. If her baby was going to be of pure magic, she needed a name like another princess the Queen knew. Snow White had been born during the harshest winter but she had been so innocent, so white as snow that it was how she had gotten her name. Regina was to name her baby during perhaps one of the harshest storms she'd ever heard, a storm that mourned Baelfire's passing but a name that fit the proper description. "Raina," she said.

"Raina," Rumplestiltskin repeated. "A lovely name. Whatever made you pick it?"

"Snow White. She was born during the harshest winter, and this is the harshest storm I've ever heard. Raina means "queen" like Regina does but it also means "pure". It also sounds like Emma, who has powerful light magic. That's why I picked it," she whispered as if the whole universe would give away her baby's name if she spoke too loud.

"A great decision," Rumplestiltskin breathed and then he looked up into Regina's eyes. "Now, what did you want to ask me."

"Baelfire said my daughter had the most powerful magic and you yourself just confirmed it. What's that about?" she asked.

The imp's smile grew large on his face. "Well, dearie, there is an ancient prophecy that dates back to even before I was born. It was said that one day, there would be a queen, who's heart was as black as night and that she wallowed in evil. It said she would be the first to cast a dark curse which would tear away everyone's happiness, but in a battle to redeem herself, she would find her soul mate, a man who had the heart of a lion. It is said that soul mates produce the most powerful children, much like Emma, but this particular one, born of both darkness and of light would hold the strongest, purest magic that would ever walk the realms. But all magic comes with a price, even light magic. If the child were to be tainted by the greatest dark magic, Zelena's magic, the babe would become tainted. It would grow up with the strongest magic, yes, but it would be cursed. It would become the darkest, vilest being, even more so than Zelena and if that magic were to be taken from the child, whoever stole it would become the possessor of the most powerful magic to ever exist."

"So this isn't just about Zelena wanting to destroy my happiness. She wants to take all the magic for herself," Regina gasped. "No. No, that can't happen. How do we stop her?"

"The prophecy ends at that. It does not go on and even I cannot see the future. From my time working with Zelena behind your back…yes, dearie, she was a secret tutoree of mine, I learned her weakness was light magic. Light magic and the pendant around her neck. You see, that pendant holds all of her power. If it were to be crushed, the Witch would be rendered completely powerless, at the complete mercy of whoever takes it. But in order to get her pendant, you need to use light magic," Rumplestiltskin explained.

"So we need Emma to take her pendant then," Regina finished.

Rumplestiltskin gave her a knowing smile. "I think you'll be surprised."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked the Queen.

The Dark One shrugged and got to his feet. "We've both upheld our end of the bargain and unless you want to make more deals with me, I suggest we leave it at that. You shall find out soon enough."

"What do you—?"

Regina was cut off by guards bursting through the doors. "Your Majesty!" the cried. "It's the merry men…they've found Roland!"

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**A/N: Short, I know but I thought this should end in a cliffhanger. Get ready guys, there's a battle coming!**


	31. Chapter 31

**A/N: So many updates though! I can't stop writing because for WEEKS this has been what I've been waiting for…ever since I started this fanfiction, even more so than the ending of this tale.**

* * *

"They've found Roland?" Regina repeated the guard's words, completely dumbfounded. "How did they find him?"

"We were not given answers, Your Majesty. We were told to get you because that's not the only thing," the second guard replied breathlessly. "The Witch is coming."

An unmistakable fear overtook Regina so suddenly it felt like she had been picked in the stomach and punched in the chest because all at once she felt two sensations, one that she couldn't breathe and the other that she was about ready to vomit. She started an irregular breathing pattern and both guards swept forwards to grab her before she fell to the ground. She brushed them off once she had found her own two feet. "I'm fine, I'm fine. Lead the way."

Not even bothering to say a word to Rumplestiltskin, Regina tore after the guards as they rushed down the hallway, drawing their swords in case of an attack. They wove down this hallway and that, picking up a larger crowd as they went. Finally, after winding down a staircase, they reached the main doors to the castle to find Robin with his arms around a little boy.

Everyone stood back as the Queen rushed forwards and threw herself on the ground next to father and son. When Roland noticed her presence, the little boy turned to her and curled himself up in her arms. She could feel him shivering. "Mama!" he cried and his tiny body wracked with sobs.

"My baby!" Regina exclaimed. "Oh my baby! Roland, my dear, I missed you so much. Are you alright?" she asked him.

The boy looked up at her, his bloodshot brown eyes filled with big tears. His lip quivered when he nodded and Regina looked him up and down for any signs of torture. Besides looking malnourished, Roland appeared to be unscathed. "I'm okay, mama. The Witch didn't hurt me. I was a brave knight," he whimpered

"Good. Good boy," Regina whispered and she hugged Roland to her chest again before looking up at Robin. When their eyes locked he crawled over and wrapped his arms around the both of them. "Where was he?"

Robin shrugged his shoulders and wiped a tear from his eye as he kissed his son's forehead. "We found him in the middle of the forest crying. It wasn't until we were halfway here did we notice the Witch's flying monkeys. They followed us right up to the gate but they never followed us inside. I think she wanted us to find him."

Regina rocked Roland in her arms, trying to keep him from quivering. "Why would she want that? She took him to get at me," Regina said and looked down at Roland who had buried himself in the fabric of her dress and was still crying. "Why would she give him back?"

"I don't know," Robin responded.

"I do," came an impish voice and everyone turned to see Rumplestiltskin with a wicked grin on his face. "It's because you, dear, gave her what she wanted." He cackled and pointed to Regina.

"And what was that?" asked Regina.

"The name of your unborn child," he said.

The Queen gently lifted Roland off of her and placed him in his father's arms. She stood and got into Rumple's face, used her magic and backed him up against the wall. "You're working with her, aren't you? You twisted, little imp! That's why you wanted my daughter's name."

"Rumple?" asked Belle as she stepped out from behind Emma. Her face was flushed and still red from mourning over Baelfire. "Is that true?"

"Yes, dearie," the Dark One said but his voice was devoid of any mischief. Instead, he sounded remorseful. "She has my dagger. She controls me."

"What importance does her name serve?" Regina asked and when Rumplestiltskin stayed quiet, she pressed him further into the wall, listening with near satisfaction as she could hear his robe ripping. "Answer the question."

"Regina…" Snow White warned somewhere behind her.

"Answer the question!" A voice barked but this time it wasn't Regina. It was Robin. "Why does the Wicked Witch need our daughter's name?"

The Dark One gave the two parents a pained frown. "Because once Zelena knows her name, she has power over her. She can taint the magic that grows inside of you."

"He's right, darling!" another voice said and Regina flinched away from the Dark One, who fell to the ground with an audible thump. The Queen whirled around, finding herself face-to-face with her half-sister. "Using the Dark One has been quite fun. Don't you just love a good twist?"

"You," Regina snarled out, curling her fists into balls.

"Yes, yes, just little old me," Zelena laughed and took a few steps back from the Queen. "Raina is such a lovely name, sis. Regal, pure, magical." The Wicked Witch brandished the dagger that belonged to Rumplestiltskin in one hand. "Too bad that once she pops out of there, she'll be mine."

"Not happening," Regina responded. "Good always wins."

"Good?" Zelena scoffed and she took a step closer to Regina. "You think you're good? You can't defeat me. Only light magic can harm me, darling, and I think Rumplestiltskin forgot to mention that it can only be light magic from someone I'm related to. You're little savior Emma cannot touch me. And you're my only relative. Dear, you're as dark as they come. It is your destiny to be this way, to live without any happiness and it'll also be your undoing. I shall destroy your happiness, Regina, by taking away your little boy toy and his son, by taking Henry. Eventually, your daughter and when the time comes, I'll take her too and you'll go right back to hiding behind the woman you've tried so hard to break away from. Face it, sis. You're the Evil Queen and you _always will be._"

Zelena thrust her arm outwards and Robin and Roland went flying through the air, smacking into the wall behind them with two loud thuds. Using the dagger, she extended out her other arm and the Dark One created a barrier around everyone else, magically freezing them in place. Then, she extended her hands towards Regina and raised her up in the air, cutting off her oxygen.

The Queen raised her arms to grasp at her throat, clawing, trying to breathe. Zelena's hands sparkled with green magic as she walked towards Regina, aimed for her belly. Fear, anger, sadness pooled inside of the Queen and a powerful sensation overtook her. Her veins vibrated with magic but it wasn't the kind of magic she'd used before. This sensation wasn't tiring like dark magic, it was rejuvenating and it blinded her every sense until she was focused just on that.

"Don't tell me what I can be," she choked out, her voice trembling with one thousand different emotions, struggling against the magic that held her airborne as Zelena inched closer, her fingers mere inches from Regina's womb. Any second, and her daughter would become exposed to the darkness that had led Regina down a terrifyingly sinister path.

Zelena chuckled and stopped for a moment, letting her fingers dangle dangerously close to Regina's stomach. "I tried to be good once. But I learned I was wicked. This is who I am and this is who you are! This is who we will always be. And that thing inside of you? Well, evil gets passed down every generation. Look at us. Our mother was a heartless, evil sorceress who abandoned me and took away the thing you loved most. Now, we're here and that baby is going to be just as terrible as you, whether or not I taint her magic."

"That's not true. I _am _good," Regina gasped and the sensation grew stronger with every word. "I'm _good," _she repeated.

Then, she began to glow. It was a dull, white glow at first, but eventually, it grew so strong that Regina had to close her eyes. Light permeated through every inch of her, focusing solely on her hands. The Wicked Witch stepped back, gasping as her green skin began to melt away with the light and Regina fell to the ground, the Witch's choking hold released.

Zelena was on the ground now, gasping as her body slowly melted away into a puddle of green slime. "What are you doing?" she asked in an agonizing scream as she tried to push herself to her feet.

"Changing!" Regina said, astonishment in her tone as she thrust her palms forward and sent an arc of blinding white light at the Witch. It hit her and knocked her backwards again.

The dagger fell from her hands and Rumplestiltskin released his barrier around the others but made no move to grab it. The Queen charged at the Wicked Witch and grabbed the green pendant off of her melting neck before turning to the Dark One.

"How do I defeat the magic?" she asked.

"It's like crushing a heart," he responded. "Just squeeze."

Closing her eyes, Regina squeezed the pendant in her hands, expecting it to be almost impossible to break but as soon as she did it was like the necklace was made out of hot plastic for it simply got smaller in her grasp and ended up in the tiniest puddle on the ground.

When Regina looked over at the Witch, she hadn't melted but the green had come off of her face. Instead, sitting there curled up on the ground hugging her knees was a woman with Cora's coloring, the same red hair and blue eyes, but milky-colored skin.

"How?" the Witch gasped.

Regina simply smirked at her. "I make my own destiny, and dear _sister _you have failed."

"What are you going to do with me? Are you going to kill me?" Zelena asked in a shaking voice as she slowly pulled herself to her feet, slowly inching towards the door.

Regina pulled her closer with the same bright white light she'd used to push her away. "You're not going anywhere," she hissed.

"I beg to differ," Rumplestiltskin said and he took Zelena towards him with his own magic. "I'm going to make you pay for everything you've done to me."

Everyone stared around unsure of what to do. Were they really going to let Zelena die? Regina looked around and her eyes landed on the dagger.

"What are you waiting for?" cried the Witch. "Just do it!"

"With pleasure," the Dark One hissed and extended his hand towards Zelena's heart.

"Rumple!" Belle cried.

She couldn't let the Wicked Witch die. They were family. They were all each other had left of their mother. "No!" Regina cried and dove for the dagger, snatching it up in her hands and thrusting it forward so that Rumple's hand fell away from Zelena. "Enough. This ends now."

The Queen stepped closer towards the Dark One and the Witch. "After everything this witch has done you're going to protect her?"

"Good magic stopped her," Regina told the imp, ferocity in her gaze as she showed him her determination. She was done letting him make decisions for her—for everyone. Even Zelena deserved a second chance. She deserved to find her happiness, too. "And good magic doesn't enact vengeance."

"She killed my son!" Rumplestiltskin cried, pointing an accusing finger at the redhead who lay at his feet, completely at Regina's mercy.

"How many lives have we taken trying to get what we want?" Regina asked.

"You can't be serious," he responded, eyes narrowing with disbelief.

Regina just gave a nod of finality. "I am. Heroes don't kill."

Zelena huffed out her scoff. "So now you're a hero?"

Regina gave her a smile and bent down next to her sister. "Today I am. No, not just today. I _am _a hero and I want to give you a second chance."

"A second chance at what?" Zelena asked.

"Happiness. A chance like I got and the ones I'm still getting," Regina said and her eyes searched around for a particular person. Once they landed on her, she beckoned her forward. "I'd like to introduce you to my friend, Tinkerbelle. She was the one who first told me what I needed to find happiness and she was right all along. I just refused to listen for so many years."

"And what's my happiness?" Zelena inquired with a small laugh as if she didn't believe Regina.

"Tinkerbelle, I want you to use pixie dust and find Zelena what will make her the happiest, okay? Please," Regina begged the fairy.

Tinkerbelle looked between the sisters. "I don't know if that's such a good idea…"

"Tink, please. Do it for me," Regina pleaded and put her hands on her friend's shoulders. "You told me once that I deserved a second chance and I can't help but feel that my sister deserves one, too."

"Fine," the green fairy huffed and turned to the Blue Fairy. "Do you have some pixie dust I can borrow?"

Blue padded forward and opened a pouch, sprinkling what looked like sparkles into Tink's hand. "Be very careful with it," she said and turned around to Zelena. "You listen to Tinkerbelle, Witch. She's my most trusted fairy. She believed in a woman I never thought I'd see change and if that woman believes in you, then you must be able to change as well."

Tinkerbelle sprinkled the pixie dust and a green light filled the room before splitting, cloaking both Regina and much to her own surprise, Alan, Robin's friend. "Fate has spoken, Zelena," she said.

Tinkerbelle clapped her hands. "Your true love and a sister, who will stand by your side. They are your keys to happiness."

Zelena looked between Regina and Alan, eyes flickering back and forth. She shook her head vigorously, once then twice and then a third time. "How can I be happy with the one person I spent so much time trying to destroy?" asked the Witch.

"Zelena, I consider my stepdaughter, who I wanted dead for so many years a friend. I have learned to push past the differences between myself and Emma. Most of the people who I tried to kill are the ones I would die for. You can be the same way. You can be happy with something other than watching me suffer because even if you had succeeded, even if you had stolen my daughter's magic you wouldn't have been happy. It would have made a hole in your heart, a hole that nothing could fill. You're learning this the easy way, sis, because I learned through some of life's hardest throws," Regina told her.

"I don't understand…" the redhead responded. "I…can I be good? My entire life I've been nothing but wicked, even in those moments when I did my best to be good."

"Yes," Regina told her sister. "You can. I did it and so can you."

"How?" questioned Zelena, her eyes growing wide as if she was suddenly interested, enthralled by the subject at hand. She slowly pushed herself to her feet and Regina followed her up.

"Open yourself up. That's all it took for me," she responded and walked over to the wall where Robin held his son in his hands. She helped the both of them to their feet and wrapped them in an embrace. "Are you guys okay?" she asked.

"We're alright," Robin responded and kissed her forehead. "Lovely work back there, milady."

"Mama!" Roland said,r eaching up towards the Queen with grabby hands, and Regina bent down to pick the little boy up and place him on her hip.

She walked back over to Zelena with Roland in her hands and Robin right behind her. She beckoned Henry over and he came around to wrap his arms around Regina in a hug. "These three and my baby are my happiness. It can be you one day, too, sister." This time, the word 'sister' held no bite, only tenderness. "I will be there every step of the way."

"I don't understand…" Zelena repeated. "I tried to kill everyone you love. I kidnapped that little boy," she said and gestured to Roland, who shied away from her outstretched arm with a whimper. "I almost committed your baby to instant evil and yet you still want me to live and to be apart of your family."

"Like I said, you have an easy ticket to happiness, all you have to do is take it. I don't want to kill you, Zelena. I am done with revenge, and you should abandon it, too," she said.

The Witch hung her head and heaved a sigh, giving a slow nod. "I think I will try," she said and there were tears in her eyes.

"Very well. But you do still need punished. I want Zelena locked up for now and keep a close eye on her. We will reevaluate this subject in one month's time and if Miss Swan's superpower proves that Zelena really wants to change, we will let her go. If not, we'll keep her locked up until she wants her second chance," Regina announced and with that she walked away, towards her bedchambers with Roland in her arms. Her boy, and she as well, needed a long rest after a busy day.


	32. Chapter 32

"Psst, Regina," a voice hissed, cutting right through her unconsciousness. The Queen's eyes opened and fluttered a moment, discovering she was in her room with her arms wrapped around Roland who was hugged tight against her slightly swollen belly. She felt arms around her and craned her neck to see Robin gazing down at her.

"What?" she asked, unfurling her arms from around the little boy sleeping against her and rubbed at her eyes. "What is it?"

"Milady, you promised you'd be down in the throne room this morning," Robin reminded her in a quiet tone. "We're reevaluating Zelena's willingness to turn good."

When he said this, Regina inhaled a sharp gasp and sat up in bed. Little Roland stirred next to her and eventually he was sitting up, yawning, and rubbing at his own eyes. She couldn't help but feel a little twinge of nervousness flutter in the pit of her stomach for what the day would bring. She certainly wanted to have another family member in her life, a blood relative at that. There was something so undeniably horrid about banishing her now powerless half-sister to the far corners of the Enchanted Forest when she had a free ticket to a better life.

"Mama?" came a voice thick with sleepiness from her side. Regina looked down to find Roland staring up at her expectantly, leaning over and placing his hands on her stomach which had begun to get a little round over the past month. Robin and Regina still hadn't told the boy about his new half-sister yet even though they had discussed her with him in the room, but she knew that the time was coming soon when they would officially proclaim their daughter to him.

"Yes, Roland?" she asked.

Perhaps too soon. The little boy poked her stomach gently and looked up at her. "It seems like I keep getting pushed further away from you at night."

Regina couldn't help but chuckle at Roland. Her belly was barely bulging and he was already complaining about the distance it had put between the two of them. She looked up at Robin to see him just smiling and shaking his head. Well, she guessed it was time to tell the boy what was going on. "Roland," she began and pulled him closer to her, closing one of her hands over his and pressing it against her stomach. "Your father and I have some news for you."

"What?" he asked, his big brown eyes growing wide.

"You're going to have a little sister soon," Regina responded and patted his hand. "My tummy is getting bigger because there is a baby in there, and my tummy will keep growing, too. It's hardly even that big, my boy."

Roland's eyes grew even wider and he looked between his father and Regina. "Why is she in there? Mama, did you eat her?" he asked, a scolding expression taking over his face, as if he was going to chide Regina if she told him she had eaten the baby.

Regina suppressed her chuckles at the little boy and his ignorance. "No, I didn't eat her, dear. Your little sister is growing in my belly. It takes nine months for a baby to grow and when they are done growing, they come out. Your sister's already been in there for about two months so that means it'll be seven months before you can see her."

"Well how did she get in there?" inquired Roland, fascinated entirely by the thought of this new baby.

Regina's face paled a bit at his question and looked up at Robin, who luckily answered for her. "Well, Roland. when a mommy and daddy love each other very much, they have a baby and it just ends up in the mommy's tummy."

The Queen breathed out a sigh of relief when Roland seemed to be satisfied with his answer. He ran his tiny hand up and down Regina's stomach and lifted his eyes to his father. "But daddies and mommies are married," he argued.

"Some are," Robin said with a nod. "But you don't need to be married to love someone, my boy. And it doesn't take marriage to have a baby either. It's kind of like this: Regina isn't your real mother, is she?" Little Roland shook his head. "Well, you still call her 'mama' don't you?"

Another nod. "Yeah."

"And you still love Regina, right?"

Roland's smile grew and he wrapped his arms around Regina and rested his head on her chest. "Yes," he said. Regina ran her fingers through his hair.

"It's the same thing for Regina and me. We love each other and we're both parents. So we had a baby," Robin said.

Roland seemed to understand by the nod he gave and he gave Regina a tight squeeze. "I can't wait until my sister gets here. Does she have a name?" he asked.

Regina hadn't even told Robin the baby's name yet, but for the past month he'd been calling her Raina, which meant he'd heard her spill the name during her face-off with Zelena last month. "Her name is Raina," the Queen responded.

"Raina," Roland repeated and he smiled. "I like that name, mama."

"Me too," Robin agreed. Then he pulled Roland off of Regina and kissed his cheek. "My boy, your mother and I have a busy day ahead of us. Why don't you head down to the kitchens for breakfast? Little John was going to meet you down there a few minutes ago."

"Okay!" Roland exclaimed and hopped off the bed, throwing open the wooden doors of Regina's bedchambers. Even once they closed, they could hear his tiny feet scurrying down the hallways.

"Nice explanation of how babies get inside of women," Regina chuckled once he'd disappeared and buried her head in Robin's shoulder to laugh. "I was glad we didn't have to ruin a young child's mind by telling him about sex."

"Oh, he's not getting that talk this early in life, believe me. I would have thought up something even more bizarre than what I already told him if he was still cynical," Robin responded and kissed the top of Regina's head. "Now get out of bed. You have a meeting to be at in less than an hour."

"Why'd you let me sleep in so late?" Regina whined as she climbed out of bed and arched her back in a stretch.

Robin gave her a look. "How many times do I have to remind you that _you're pregnant _and you need sleep," he said.

"I don't get my pampering time now," Regina pouted as she made her way over to her wardrobe and pulled out a light purple gown. "You know how long women take in the bath."

"Well, now you'll just have to take a bath like a man and be quick about it," Robin responded as he climbed out of the bed himself.

"I hate you," Regina huffed playfully.

"That's a lie, Your Majesty, and you know it," Robin responded. "Now stop stalling and get ready."

"If I'm the 'Your Majesty' around here, then why are _you _the one bossing me around," Regina asked as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Robin sighed and walked over towards her, spinning her around in the direction of the room that broke off of the bedchambers and had been acting as a bathroom lately. "Because I am the one who has common sense around here. Now get."

Mumbling playful insults under her breath, Regina shut herself in the room and tore off her nightclothes, discarding them in the corner of the room and took perhaps the quickest bath she'd taken in her life, which ended up being pretty lengthy either way. When she got out she combed through her long hair and slipped on the purple gown before exiting the bathroom to find Robin right at the door just about ready to knock.

"They told me five minutes ago that you were late and they were wanting to start. We'd better get down there," Robin said and he waited for no response as he took her hand and guided her out of the bedchambers and towards the throne room.

Once they arrived, Regina flung the doors open. "Sorry I'm late!" she apologized and crossed the room to plop herself down into her throne. Her gaze shifted around the room and landed on the redhead who was secured by two guards. She had been cast out of her gown which she had stolen from Regina and dressed in a simple gray tunic. Her skin was slightly pinked and dirty but she didn't look malnourished. Regina had made a hard attempt to be sure she was treated well in her prison.

After she had seated herself, everyone focused their attention on her. Regina's gaze shifted to Emma and she beckoned the blonde away from Henry's side and up to her. Once Emma was standing in front of her throne, Regina announced the plan. "I'm going to ask Zelena a few questions about wanting to change. I want you to pay close attention…use that superpower you claim to have."

"You got it," Emma said and then added a quick, "Your Majesty." Regina quickly assured Emma that no such titles needed to be given.

Regina turned away from the savior and focused her gaze on her half-sister, waving the guards away from her side. The Queen beckoned the Witch closer until she was standing directly in front of the throne. "Zelena, your punishment of one month as prisoner is up and you've been given a lot of time to think upon whether or not you'd like to be redeemed and given a second chance."

"Yes," Zelena responded and bowed her head.

"We will erase from our minds all of the wrong you have done and we can all start over. With your magic gone and your minions turned back into humans, you do not pose as big of a threat as you once did, although you could still be dangerous. You do realize that it takes time to earn trust back completely, something I deal with almost every day. It's a hard journey to true happiness but I believe it was one that you and I alike can find together with the help of the best people in the Enchanted Forest. What do you say, Zelena, are you willing, truly willing, to give it a shot?" Regina proposed.

The Witch looked up into the eyes of the Queen. "I am."

Regina looked over at Emma for a confirmation on whether or not she was lying. When Emma looked back with a small nod, Regina turned to Zelena. "Very well then, sister. You are freed from the castle's prison. You are more than welcome to stay here with us and be assigned to a bedchamber or you may go about the Enchanted Forest. Or, perhaps, we can find you a way back to your land of Oz."

"I'd like to stay here, I suppose. After all, the pixie dust did say it is where my happiness lies, right in these very castle walls, " Zelena said with a small smile.

The Queen nodded, although she couldn't help but feel slightly unnerved by how close the woman would be to her every waking moment. "I'll see to it that you have a bedchamber by the end of the day. This meeting is dismissed although I would like to see the Charmings afterwards. Please draw Zelena a bath and provide her with some better clothes."

With that everyone turned to go, all except Snow White, Prince Charming, Emma, and Henry. Regina hopped off of her throne to meet them in the center of the room. "So she was telling the truth. She really wants to change?" Regina asked Emma.

The blonde gave a nod. "She seemed very sincere as far as I could tell."

"I think it's wise that we keep an eye on her for a while though, secretly of course so she doesn't know we're watching," Charming suggested. "She may not have magic anymore, but people can still do unspeakable things without it."

"I agree with that. We need to make sure she behaves," Snow White agreed.

Emma and Henry nodded their heads as well.

"I'll see to it that guards are posted outside of her chambers to be sure she doesn't do any unnecessary wondering at night. We will also be sure that she sleeps apart from us in a different section of the castle. That should give the knights time to stop her just in case she is very good at lying," Regina said and gave a nod, feeling her confidence boosting as she spoke.

"That sounds like a good idea," agreed Charming. "I'll be sure to notify a select few of the guard to keep an eye on her during everyday activities. That way if she's conspiring with someone, we'll know."

"We should also keep an eye on Rumplestiltskin. He may seem occupied with Belle but he's a very tricky one," Emma spoke up.

"We already have been watching him closely," Snow White informed. "Although now that Zelena has the run of the castle, we'll be sure to post more watches on him as well. We assure you, Regina, this will be a great place to raise our children. Nothing is going to harm them now."

"I have faith that they will be alright," Regina said and bowed to the four of them. "Now if you will excuse me, I believe Robin ran off and I must go find him."

Regina left them there and returned to her bedchambers, figuring that Robin and maybe Roland would be inside but when she entered, she found her room vacant. Her eyes scanned the room for any signs that could have suggested where they would be when her gaze fell on a piece of parchment lying on the pillows on her bed. She walked over and gingerly picked it up, unfolding it twice to reveal ink scribbles on the inside that clearly spelled out:

_Meet me by the Queen's Lake. _

It was not signed but Regina knew exactly who it was from and she tore off in that direction.

* * *

**A/N: This fanfic is coming to a close, sadly. It has a few chapters left before we're finished, although I was thinking of writing a sequel that has to do with Once Upon A Time's new villain, Elsa. If you would read it, please say so in your review for this chapter!**


	33. Chapter 33

"Robin?" Regina called as she reached the Queen's Lake, picking up her skirts so they didn't brush along the sandy ground. Her gaze shifted around the beach. "Robin?" she cried out again.

"I take it you got my message," a familiar voice said from behind and Regina whirled around to find Robin standing at the base of one of the trees near the place where the beach began. Regina rolled her eyes and ran over to him. When she reached him and grabbed her hand and pulled her close to him.

Regina looked up at Robin's mischievous look in his eyes. "What're we doing?" she asked him.

"Well," Robin began as he placed a kiss on her forehead. "We've been together for some time now," he said as he brushed a few kisses on her cheek, "but we've never had a date." He feathered kisses on the bridge of her nose. Her eyelids fluttered shut and his lips skimmed over them too. Despite the fact that they had been together for a few months now, Regina couldn't help but feel tingles run up and down her spine when his lips connected with her skin.

"What about the night of the ball. Doesn't that count?" Regina asked as she rose up on her toes to capture his lips with hers. "You know, the night when you asked to kiss me and I said yes?" she whispered against his mouth.

"Technically it does but we weren't in a relationship then," Robin responded as he broke away. "This can be our _real _first date," he said.

"I like the sound of that," Regina said and Robin held out his arm, which Regina linked through her own.

As the two of them walked along the shore of the lake, Regina couldn't help but start giggling. Robin stopped walking and turned towards her with a quizzical expression on his face, his smile not only on his mouth but in his eyes as well. "What's got you?" he asked.

Regina just shook her head and put a hand over her mouth to stop her laughing. "I just can't help but think how much we do things out of order."

"What do you mean?" asked Robin but the Queen suspected he was asking the question only to hear her say the answer, not because he really didn't know.

Regina rested her head on his shoulder and hugged him close to her. "Well at first we fought like a married couple, then we finally kissed, acted like teenagers and accidentally got ourselves a baby, we're just now going on our first date…" she trailed off and looked up at him to find Robin practically shaking with laughter.

"It makes us all the more unique," he responded. "C'mon. I want to show you something."

"That sounds familiar. Do I have to close my eyes this time?" Regina asked as Robin intertwined their fingers and led her along the shore. She gave a satisfied smile when he shook his head 'no' at her question.

Robin stopped halfway around the lake and looked over at Regina who had already seen his surprise. It was a little picnic set up on the shore sat up on a blanket with a little basket that was full of food. Regina turned towards Robin and wrapped her arms around him. "It's great," she said.

"I hoped you would like it," he responded. "I also thought we could take that ride we had planned to go on before Magic kicked me." He pulled away from Regina and took her hand again to lead her towards the picnic.

The two of them sat down on the blanket together and Robin opened the picnic basket to reveal small sandwiches and pastries. Regina grinned as he set out a plate for her and then another for him. Regina snuggled up against Robin as they ate and enjoyed the beautiful day. The sun was high in the sky, warming the earth but luckily the shade from the trees and the breeze that blew off of the lake was enough to keep the two of them cooled off. After they had eaten their lunch the two of them sprawled out on the blanket and watched the sky.

"That cloud looks like a dragon," Regina said and pointed to the biggest cloud in the sky.

Robin narrowed his eyes quizzically at the cloud. "Looks more like a horse to me."

"You've said that about the last two clouds. You must be really eager for our ride," Regina said as she rolled over on her side to grin at Robin. When she noticed he wasn't smiling, she tipped her head at him. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," he responded and then he sat up. "What about you? It's been over a month since you defeated Zelena and we've both been so busy with different things. How are you?"

"I'm alright," Regina said and she curled her arms around Robin, leaning up to give him a kiss on the cheek. "You're kind of scaring me right now, though. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Just concerned about you, that's all," he said and brushed his lips against the side of her head before a hand gently glided down to rest on her stomach. "How's Raina?"

The Queen rested her hand on top of Robin's and pressed it closer to her belly. "She seems to be doing fine. I can't wait until she gets here," Regina said. "I've never had a child of my own before."

"It's a lot more tiresome than you think," Robin replied, managing a small chuckle. "I get the feeling that our little Raina is going to be quite the handful."

"It sounds like she'll take more after daddy than mommy then," Regina told Robin with raised eyebrows and poked him with a finger.

Robin nudged her back. "Oh please! She's bound to get the bold and audacious traits from you, the adventurous side from me. Stubbornness and determination from the both of us. She'll be climbing on the castle walls before she's two. So we will both be at fault. This _was _a team effort after all."

"Yes I suppose so," Regina said with a shake of her head. "I'm kind of scared, you know."

"Of being a mother?" Robin asked, a bit of shock in his voice as he turned to look at the Queen.

Regina gave him a hesitant nod and flashed a nervous smile before staring at the ground. "I just…I've never done this before."

"I'll be there with you, Regina," Robin said and cupped her face in his hands, tilting her head up so that she had to look at him. "We will be there together, my love. And I know for a fact that you are a terrific mother. You raised Henry all by yourself. Roland took an instant liking to you and he already calls you his mama."

"I'm just scared that I'll turn out to be like my mother, Cora. I was already hard on Henry when he was a boy…I don't want to chase away my daughter like my mother chased me away," Regina admitted with a slow sigh. "Don't let me turn out that way."

"You're not going to be like that. You're good now, Regina. You even said it yourself. That light coming out of your hands last month was pure, light magic from you and from our daughter. You make each other stronger. Somehow I can already tell the two of you have an amazing bond, one that won't easily be broken," Robin said and leaned in to give her a long, soft kiss on the lips. "I won't let anything bad happen to the either of you."

Regina gave Robin a smile and without realizing it, he was drying away tears. Regina lifted her hands up and quickly helped him wipe them away. Pregnancy hormones were going to be terrible. "Thank you…for everything. For saving my life and for every moment after. I don't know where I'd be without you. No, actually, I do. I'd still be the Evil Queen and you saved me from being her."

"You saved yourself. I only helped bring the change out of you," Robin said humbly and then he sat back, eying the woman who sat beside him. "You are so beautiful," he breathed.

The Queen rolled her eyes and pressed her back up against the thief's chest. He wrapped his arms around her and peppered light kisses along her neck. "I can't tell you how many times I've heard you say that."

"Well, it's true," Robin responded between each kiss and nuzzled his nose through her hair. "Inside and out, Your Majesty."

There was a moment of silence as the thief held her in his arms and she rested her head on his shoulder, relishing the familiar feeling of being completely safe in his embrace again. After a moment she could feel him fiddling around for something and knitted her eyebrows together.

"What are you doing?" she asked as she craned her neck to see what he was digging for. When she turned around he was holding a golden ring in his hands with diamonds incrested in them. Was he…?

"Regina," Robin began. "I loved you the moment I saved your life. I fell in love with your stubbornness, the conflict you felt, your determination, your loyalty to changing, and your beauty. The fact that we're meant to be together, that Roland needs a great mother, and that we're going to be raising a baby soon has kept one thought constantly on my mind, especially since the Wicked Witch was finally destroyed as a threat. Will you marry me?"

For some reason, Regina couldn't help but feel a twinge of fear and elation go through her all at once and her veins were buzzing with an emotion she couldn't quite explain. Whatever that emotion could be called though, sent tears cascading down her cheeks and her hands clasped over her mouth as she bit her lips behind them to hide sobs. She was scared of marrying Robin, of making him stuck with her, with the baby forever. She was scared of truly becoming Roland's mother. At the same time she felt overjoyed to be Robin's wife, to raise a baby in marriage, to be Roland's mother.

"I…"

"Regina?" he asked.

In one moment all of the emotions just crashed into one and Regina turned sharply away from Robin so he couldn't see her face. "I don't know…I don't want to make you imprisoned to me all the time."

"Regina, I couldn't think of anything that would make me happier than to be pinned to your side for the rest of my life. There is no one else I'd rather be with," the thief said and he reached out to touch her arm.

"Marriage is such a big commitment. It's never worked out for me…Daniel died before we could be married, the King was a terrible spouse. What if you don't like being married to me?" Regina asked as she pulled her arm away from his grasp.

Robin reached out for her again and this time Regina let him pull her up against his chest and she tried to comfort herself when she heard his breathing, the sound of his heart which beat in the same rhythm as her own. His lips brushed over the top of her head. "Marriage hasn't been quite in my favor either. My wife died, you know, but I want to start a new chapter of my life. I want to be married to you, to raise this baby and Roland with you. I want to finally be happy and you're the only person in this world who can truly give me my happy ending."

"But Robin—"

"Shh," Robin soothed as he cradled the Queen against him and kissed her head again. "I love you so much Regina," he said and his lips moved to her forehead, then over her eyelids, the bridge of her nose. "I don't even have words to describe my feelings for you." He kissed each of her cheeks before his lips finally found her mouth and he pulled her tightly to him for perhaps the gentlest kiss he'd ever given her, but in a way it had been more passionate than any other. "But I want to marry you, Regina. More than anything in this world, but only when you're ready."

There was a moment of silence before the Queen heaved a sigh and closed her eyes for a moment to compose herself before telling Robin. "Ask me again."

A large smile grew on his face. "Marry me?"

"Yes," Regina whispered against him.

With tears glowing in his eyes, Robin took the ring he'd been holding and gently slipped it over her ring finger before clasping her hand tightly in his own. "My goodness, I love you."

"I love you too," Regina replied and pulled him down towards her to crash their lips together in a kiss that left them both gasping for air once they finally pulled away. "Now ask me that question again, preferably sooner rather than later or else your bride is going to be wearing a horrid maternity wedding dress."

"The sooner I can call you my wife the better," Robin laughed. "We'll have the wedding as soon as possible. It won't take much planning to have a memorable day. Getting married to you will be plenty memorable enough for me."

"Indeed," Regina agreed. "Now let's take that horse ride so we can discuss wedding plans tonight."

"Sounds like a plan to me, Your Majesty."

* * *

**A/N: I had to sit and cry for like twenty minutes after writing this because I was just thinking of how perfect it'll be once they get married on the show...once we get Marian out of the way of course ;)**


	34. Chapter 34

"Tink, this wedding dress makes me look so fat," Regina complained as she surveyed herself in the mirror with a pout on her face. The palms of her hands rubbed her stomach, which showed an obvious swell. It had been three months since Robin had proposed and the wedding was in a few hours. The only thing Regina had _not _prepared for was her own gown, which had resulted in an emergency call to Tinkerbelle and Snow White.

"Darling, I tried to tell you to wait until after the baby was born to get married but both you and Robin insisted that it had to be before," Tink sighed as she fluffed out the skirts of the dress. "You're not even that big, don't worry."

"Maybe we could wrap a shawl around her," Snow White suggested, looking up from her job of doing Regina's hair. "It would hide the bump and I'm sure we could get a really pretty one."

Regina looked back at Snow White who was, perhaps, only about six months along. Her stomach had grown only slightly bigger than Regina's and the Queen couldn't help but be glad that she had decided to get married now rather than wait another month, or her problem would have been even bigger than it was already.

Tink considered Snow White's words a moment before giving a wave of her wand. Instantly, something warm and fuzzy covered Regina's shoulders, which had been bare. She looked into the mirror to find Tinkerbelle had wrapped a beautiful woolen shawl incrested with diamonds over her. It did it's job of hiding the bump and somehow, it looked like it fit with the wedding dress too.

"Please tell me you like this one now," Tink begged. "That's the third wedding dress we've tried and I'm getting tired."

Regina turned her body from one side to the other, being sure that the shawl covered as much baby bump as possible. "Yes, this one will do, dear. I did like the skirts after all," Regina sighed as she smoothed out the gown part of the dress which was long and flowing, luckily not poofy like her wedding gown she'd married King Leopold in.

"So what does Robin think of being King?" Tinkerbelle asked as she moved to help Snow White fix Regina's hair.

Snow White chuckled behind her. "If a man marries a queen then he doesn't become the King, Tink. Besides, Regina was only made the Queen through marriage. The throne should've fallen to me the moment my father died."

"Hello, right here," Regina snapped as she crossed her arms over her chest. Both girls looked appalled at her tone, but Regina quickly shook her head to apologize. "Sorry, I'm just stressed out and pregnancy hormones make me cranky."

"Believe me, Regina, we've noticed," Tinkerbelle said. "But, if you're supposed to be the Queen, Snow, why does everyone still refer to Regina as she?"

"I have decided I am completely content with being a princess. Being Queen kind of fits Regina more than me anyhow," Snow said as she pinned up more of Regina's hair. "Of course, Robin could become the King if Regina chose to give him such a title, which I've been begging her to do. You need a man to rule by your side."

"Snow is not the only one who's been begging. Henry seems to think it's a good idea as well," Regina said with an exaggerated sigh and then she started to laugh. "You know, if this would have been pre-Curse there would have been no questions asked to whether or not I was still a queen or if Robin could be a king. It would be an absolute no."

"Modern times have muddled our minds," Snow White replied with a small smile. "You should make him the King though, Regina. The entire castle and kingdom loves him. He knows how to rule, considering the fact he's led the merry men for years, and he's got that kingliness about him. Besides, he does have royal blood. He is Robin _of Locksley_ after all. In another life, he was a nobleman."

"You've told me a million times, dear. Are you almost done yanking on my hair? It's starting to hurt," Regina asked the fairy and the princess. After another moment the two of them stepped back.

"We're through now," Tink said.

"I'm glad we got the makeup out of the way first," Regina mumbled as she turned towards the mirror again and surveyed herself. The two had made her look just as stunning as they had the night of the ball. Every bit of makeup complimented her features and the simple braids trimmed with silver string that eventually made her long hair fall down her back in big curls made her seem younger. Her dress captured every curve of her body, topped off with the wool shawl that hid her baby bump. "I look like I'm twenty again. Maybe I should let you fix me up every day."

"You complain too much," Snow White whined as she reached down and hugged Regina. "You're missing one detail though, _Your Majesty._"

Tinkerbelle passed something to Snow White, which was hidden until it was suddenly plopped on her head. It was a beautiful silver crown that had the veil fastened to it. Regina helped them place it on her head in a manner that would not allow it to fall off. "Thank you," she told the fairy and the princess. "You always know exactly what to do."

"You certainly are the fairest of them all," Snow said, earning a wry smile from Regina.

"Do you think Zelena will show up today?" asked Regina after a thoughtful moment. She stood up and practiced walking in her gown. "I really want to convince her that she can be good."

"You didn't hear the news?" asked Tinkerbelle as she reached out to grab Regina's arm. "Zelena fled to the farthest reaches of the Enchanted Forest two weeks ago. We've tracked her but nobody has seen a trace of the Witch. It's like she completely disappeared. Maybe she went back to Oz."

Regina's face fell and she whirled on the younger women. "Why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

"Regina, calm down," Snow White said firmly and placed her hands on her stepmother's shoulders. "We didn't want to tell you right away because we knew it would put a damper on your mood." Her eyes turned to Tinkerbelle with ferocity in them. "Some people don't know how to keep secrets."

"Oh, you're one to talk," Tink snapped in unison to Regina back and the fairy stuck her chin in the air proudly. "Regina deserved to know sooner than later. In fact, she needed to know the moment that Zelena ran off. The Witch is her sister after all."

Snow White heaved a sigh, trying not to let the words get to her. "And now look? She's all upset."

Regina did her best to bite back the anger and fear that rose inside of her. She didn't want Zelena ruining the wedding or the birth of her child. She hoped that the Witch had returned to Oz, or found happiness elsewhere. "We'll find her," Regina assured as she took a big breath. "I'll worry about my sister later. Right now, we have to prepare for a wedding."

_Let's just hope she doesn't crash it like I crashed Snow's. Well, maybe I do deserve it if she did, _the Queen thought as she hiked up her skirts and left her bedchambers with Tinkerbelle and Snow following guiltily behind.

The congregation gathered for the wedding was a small one. While her stepdaughter had invited the entire kingdom to her wedding, Regina and Robin had both agreed that a smaller gathering of their closest friends would be appropriate enough. All of the merry men had attended, as well as a few of the most trusted knights in the castle. Regina had selected Tinkerbelle to be her maid of honor, since she had helped Regina find Robin in the first place. Emma, Snow, and Belle were bridesmaids. Robin had, of course, chosen Little John as his best man and his groomsmen were Much, Alan, and Friar Tuck. Little Roland had gotten the job of the ringbearer and Jefferson had allowed Grace to be the flower girl (which Regina had been a little surprised with). Jiminy Cricked was to wed Robin and Regina. The audience was small, consisting of Charming, Phillip, Aurora, Mulan, Granny, Red, Gapetto, Pinnochio, Hook, Blue, and the seven dwarves had all gathered.

Regina now stood, her hands clasped tightly with Robin's as Jiminy Cricket spilled out the wedding vows.

"Robin of Locksley, do you take Queen Regina to be your wife, knowing in your heart that she will be your constant friend, your faithful partner in life, and your one true love to have and to hold in sickness and in health, the good times and the bad, 'till death do you part?"

"I do," Robin said, his eyes never leaving Regina's as he offered her one hopeful smile and slipped the ring on her finger.

"And do you, Queen Regina, take Robin to be your husband, knowing in your heart that he will be your constant friend, your faithful partner in life, and your one true love to have and to hold in sickness and in health, the good times and the bad, 'till death do you part?"

Regina nodded and return Robin's grin. "I do." A ring was put onto his finger as well.

"Well, then I pronounce the two of you man and wife. May your love prosper. You may now kiss the bride," Jiminy announced proudly and puffed out his little chest.

Regina raised her eyebrows at Robin, expecting his kiss and he leaned closer to her. Their lips met in a gentle kiss and everyone clapped and cheered, a few of them whistling. Finally after what seemed like an eternity, the two of them pulled away and Regina laughed, tears of joy streaming down her cheeks. "I love you," she told Robin.

"I love you too."

With that, everyone left the throne room and went to the dining room where the feasting and dancing began. Once again, with Roland on her lap, Henry and Robin on either side of her, people she had once called enemies congratulating her on her marriage and the baby, Regina couldn't help but feel at home, even more so than she had on her birthday. Now, she finally felt happy, and she shed several joyful tears that day just thinking about how she had finally deserved her happiness and how she was finally good.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry these are getting so short and choppy. I just have been writing and writing the sequel already since a lot of you said you wanted one and it's been sucking up all my muse. Anyways, for those who were wondering, Zelena's path to happiness is going to take a lot of time and I'm not letting her off the hook that easily. So, expect her to be a problem in the sequel, hehe.**


	35. Chapter 35

_Four months later…_

Her contractions had begun almost twenty-four hours ago in the middle of the night, often dying off and then coming back with the same sharp pain that sent her to the ground, grasping at her stomach and yelping. Regina had been confined to her bed for that entire day, but nothing had prepared her for the pain childbirth would bring.

"Robin!" Regina screamed out suddenly as she shot from her sleep, sitting up in bed, arching her back as the pain came back, stronger than ever. Once it had finally died off, she let her head fall back, smacking it against the bedframe.

The thief shot up in bed next to her. "Oh shit," he murmured. "Regina, is she coming?" he asked urgently. He was already climbing out of bed and lighting torches all over the room.

After panting for a few seconds, the pain returned and Regina suddenly felt something warm pool beneath her. She cried out again and clutched her stomach. "Yes! My water broke," she whimpered as the pain seared through her stomach. Her body began to instinctively tense up as her muscles worked to push the baby out.

Robin ran over towards the door to the bedchambers and knocked wildly before pulling them open. Ever since Zelena had run away, there had been guards placed outside to be sure the Witch didn't return. While powerless as far as magic went, her sudden disappearance still posed a threat. "Get Granny and hurry! The baby is coming!" Robin shouted which woke up the whole hallway because there were suddenly doors flinging open. "No, stay there. Regina won't want you in here."

He returned to Regina's side and pulled up a chair next to the bed. Another contraction swept over the Queen and she was arching her back again, her body doing its best to force the baby out. Tears pooled in her eyes and each time she grit her teeth and closed her eyes, they would leak down her cheeks. Rippling pain shot through her and soon she found herself screaming, her throat quickly becoming raw. Robin clutched her hand in his and put one hand underneath her back to help her keep herself up every time she pushed.

"It's going to be okay, Regina," he whispered, knowing if he used a loud voice it would upset her.

"It hurts…" she whined and once the contractions stopped for just a few seconds she panted, her chest heaving. Regina wiped her forehead to find it was already drenched in sweat.

"It's supposed to, girl," Granny said as she entered the room and made her way to the foot of the bed. She had towels, blankets, and water ready. As she sat down she began to roll up her sleeves. "Regina, I'm going to help you get this baby out, okay? I need you to prop your legs up, alright?"

As another contraction hit, Regina did so almost instinctively, arching her back again as her muscles pushed at the baby.

"Oh, that baby is coming alright. Robin, how long as she been having contractions?" Granny asked.

"Almost a full day. She refused to let me get you," he responded and squeezed Regina's hand as she fell back against the bed, gasping for air. "Can I have a towel to dab her forehead?"

"She's not going to want you touching her, believe me," Granny replied. "You should have come to me anyways. Luckily she dilated alright and her water broke on its own but there could have been complications."

"Sorry, I wasn't sure what to do. When Marian had Roland she ran off to a doctor and I wasn't allowed to be there for her," Robin said, rather sadly. He gasped in pain when Regina's fingernails dug into his skin as she lifted up again to push out the baby but her grip was too strong and he couldn't pull away from it.

"It's alright," Granny said. "I'm starting to see the head, Regina. You're almost there, girl. Keep pushing."

Regina gave a small nod, her lips opening to whisper a small agreement but another contraction hit her and her words that had meant to be soft developed into a yelp of pain that turned her throat completely raw. Her hand squeezed Robin again as she rose up to give another push.

"Push, push," Granny urged and Regina put all of her strength into it.

After several more tries, the torches that Robin had lit went completely out and raw cries filled the room. Regina sank back into the bed, feeling completely exhausted and it was only a matter of moments before Granny came over and placed something in Regina's arms swaddled in a blanket. The Queen pulled back the fabric to see a tiny, scrunched up face with tears leaking from its eyes in her arms. It only took one look and she was already in love.

Granny smiled as father and mother leaned over to look at the baby and light once again filled the room as she relit the torches before quietly disappearing from the bedchambers to give the parents some time with their daughter.

Regina slowly peeled a little more of the fabric away from the baby's face, tears of joy falling down her cheeks as she fully uncovered the infant. Her skin was so pale, nearly white. _Like Snow White, _Regina thought with a small grin. The baby had a head of thick, black curls and she looked up at Robin to find him already reaching down to stroke the babe's head. The infant had a little button nose and thick lips, much like Regina.

"She's so beautiful," he whispered and leaned in to kiss Regina on the cheek. "Just like her mother." He bent down to kiss the baby's head.

"She's gorgeous," the Queen agreed in a soft tone and bent her face down so that it hovered just above the child's. "Hello Raina," she cooed.

Raina gurgled in response, her lips twitching up ever so slightly. A tiny had reached up from the blankets and Regina chuckled as it found her nose. Raina's hand gently close around Regina's nose for a moment before she drew her hand away. Regina placed her finger in the baby's palm, smiling as Raina took it and held her little fingers around it. The Queen admired how pale and pure the baby looked as her pale skin was held up against Regina's Latina coloring, as it would have been referred to in Storybrooke. She leaned down and feathered a kiss against the infant's forehead.

"I told you that the two of you had a special bond," Robin whispered as he rested Regina's head on his shoulder and peered down at the baby. "My beautiful girls," he said and Regina could almost feel him puffing his chest out with pride.

"Do you want to hold her, _King _Robin?" Regina asked as she looked up at the thief who was smiling down adoringly t the Queen holding the newborn princess.

"More than anything, Queen Regina," he responded and held his arms out as Regina gently lifted the child and placed her in her father's arms, smiling as Robin drew her up close to his face and peppered a kiss right on her nose. Raina gurgled again and her hand reached up she brushed Robin's cheek. Then, her face scrunched up and she began to cry quietly. Before her sobs got any louder Robin gave her one last kiss on the forehead before handing her off to Regina. "I think it's going to take some work before she likes me," he chuckled.

Regina rolled her eyes playfully at him before taking Raina from Robin and holding her against her chest. The baby's cries instantly died down and she snuggled her head in the crook of Regina's neck. The palm of Regina's hand gently rubbed against the baby's back. "I love her," she whispered as she kissed the baby's head once more.

"I love her, too," Robin agreed as he pulled Regina to him again. "And I love you."

"I love you, too," Regina said with a smile. "Are you going to make any comment on her hair?" she asked with a small chuckle. "You did want her to have black, curly hair after all."

"I am very happy she did not inherit this mess," he said and motioned towards his head before stroking the baby's head again. Raina pushed her head into his touch, cooing softly to herself. "She looks so much like you." His hands traced the baby's arm, smiling at her skin which was as flawless and as white as porcelain. "This is not from me though. Or you, obviously."

"That's her purity, silly," Regina insisted. "Her innocence."

"Hmm," Robin hummed thoughtfully and then he jumped back ever-so-slightly. "She opened her eyes, Regina."

"What?" the Queen asked, slowly pulling the baby away from her shoulder.

"Raina opened her eyes. They're still open," he repeated.

Regina cradled the baby against her breast again to find two hazel eyes staring up at her. They were the prettiest eyes she had ever seen. On the outer edges, they were a dark green but towards the pupil they were such a rich shade of amber they almost looked orange. Her left eye had the most peculiar marking, a strip of dark brown that went from the bottom of her pupil to where her iris ended. "Look at her eyes, Robin. I've never seen anything like them."

"Neither have I," he responded, sounding completely awestruck. Raina's gaze travelled over the both of them and after a moment, she smiled a beautiful toothless smile.

"Hi baby," Regina whispered as she smiled back at her daughter. She waved a finger in front of Raina and when she pulled it away she found the infant's eyes trained on her face, studying her as if she could look into her very soul with those hauntingly gorgeous eyes. "Hello."

Raina's smile grew and she gurgled again, her arm reaching out to brush her fingers over Regina's cheek before cooing even more.

Robin chuckled and the sound of his deep voice sent the baby's eyes searching for the source of the noise. They landed on him and the King grinned, earning himself another gleeful grin from Raina.

"Mama!" came a tiny voice as the bedchamber doors opened.

"Mom!" another voice called.

Henry and Roland were running into the room and as soon as they reached the bed their eyes landed on their sister. "Meet your sister," Regina told him and they both came over to rest beside Robin. Henry's had reached out and he stroked Raina's face. In response she grabbed his finger in her tiny hands. Roland simply peered at the baby, to awestruck to speak.

"What's her name?" asked Henry.

"Princess Raina," Regina announced and looked up as Snow White and Emma quickly followed the children into the room.

"Sorry, we tried to keep them out but they got away," Snow apologized as she came over, holding her own child in her arms. When her baby had been born less than a month ago, she had announced that his name was Baelfire, in honor of Rumplestiltskin's deceased son.

Emma swung Roland up on her hip and bopped his nose. "I told you not to bug your mama, Roland," she chided gently but the little boy's eyes were still trained on his stepsister.

"But I wanted to see my baby sister," the boy responded, and he didn't gaze at Emma once. He simply squirmed away from her grasp and hopped up into Robin's lap. "Daddy? Mama? Can I hold her?"

"I want to hold her, too," Henry said.

Regina heaved an exaggerated sigh despite her tiredness and chuckled, handing the baby to Roland first so Robin could help him hold the baby. "Be very careful, Roland, okay?" she told the boy and he nodded, cradling the baby gently in his hands while Robin helped him support Raina's head and back. The little boy leaned down and kissed the babe's forehead.

"Hi baby," he whispered. "I'm your big brother, Roland. _Prince _Roland, the bravest knight in the castle."

"A very big title you have there, my boy," Robin chuckled. After a few moments of letting Roland hold Raina in his arms, Robin took the infant from the little boy and shooed him off of his lap before passing the baby to Henry.

Regina watched with a smile as her adopted son held his adopted sister securely in his arms. Emma joined Henry and looked over his shoulder at the baby, gently rubbing her head of hair with her hands. Henry stroked the baby's arm. "She's got pure porcelain skin. She's like a doll," he said and looked up at Snow, his eyes flickering from the older princess to the newborn one. "She's like Snow White."

Snow giggled a bit, walked over and pressed her fingers to the baby's forehead before bending down to place her son beside Raina. Little Baelfire gurgled and reached out, his little fingers circling around his step-cousin's arm. After a moment he let go and Snow White stood up straight again. Henry gently handed the baby back to Regina.

"She's beautiful, mom," Henry said, earning a nod of agreement from everyone gathered in the room. "Are you going to present her to the castle like Snow did with Bae?"

"Eventually, yes, so keep her name quiet for now…although I think most people know it," Regina said with a guilty laugh as she curled the baby up in her arms.

Baby Raina was held securely in Regina's arms as Robin guided her to the castle gates. Outside was the entire kingdom, faces of people Regina hadn't seen for a long time ever since Pan's Curse had brought them all back to the Enchanted Forest. When they saw Raina in her little white gown clutched in Regina's grasp, everyone 'oohed' and 'ahed' over the infant princess.

"Well, Queen Regina, why don't you tell us her name?" Snow asked as she stepped up beside the proud father and mother.

Regina held her up so the kingdom could see and Henry was snickering behind her because the babies in the Enchanted Forest who were royalty were always presented as Simba was in _The Lion King. _"Her name is Raina, for her innocence and one day, she will be Queen, too."

Once her name was announced everyone stooped low into bows and curtseys and Regina hugged her daughter against her chest again, smiling as the kingdom stood up again and began to clap for her daughter.

So this is what happiness felt like. It was when nobody was scared of you anymore, when you had everyone on your side. It was Robin Hood, Henry, and Roland. It was her beautiful daughter, Raina. It was the cheers of the kingdom, the friendly hands of Snow White and Tinkerbelle on Regina's shoulder.

Happiness was love.

And that was exactly what Regina had.

* * *

**A/N: I'm crying because it's over. But there WILL be a sequel, I promise! Keep a look out. It'll be called 'Thaw'.**


	36. Epilogue

**A/N: I decided to post a little 'Epilogue' because I needed to get to you guys and tell you a few things.**

**First off, I have been trying for a very long time to post ****_Thaw _****but whenever I try to post a new story, the page always goes blank and so far, the site has found no way to fix that. So, I have decided to post ****_Thaw _****elsewhere. You can read it on my WattPad at www. wattpad / user / mamaregal (take the spaces out).**

**Also, I have made a Tumblr that I'm going to start using a little more frequently and will post some one-shots and things on there. My blog name is castingcurses, so be sure to follow me! Also, if you could give me a follow on Twitter, I'm mamasevilregal and on Instagram I'm mamaregal!**

**Thank you, and I deeply apologize for not being able to post ****_Thaw. _****If I can ever fix the problem, I'll post it here ASAP.**

_Fourteen years later…_

Regina stood on the balcony of her castle, overlooking the beautiful gardens below. Just below her, her beautiful daughter Raina sat on a marble bench, laying on her back with a book held up in front of her. The Queen had grown so attached to her little girl, who wasn't a little girl anymore. In just a few days, she'd be fifteen years old and almost a woman.

"She's growing up fast, isn't she?" asked Robin as he walked over and stood beside Regina, wrapping an arm around her waist as he'd always done. He leaned over and placed a kiss on the Queen's forehead. "She's as beautiful as her mother."

Regina smiled and leaned in to Robin, rolling her eyes playfully as nineteen-year-old Roland dashed over and grabbed the book from Raina's hand. The princess shot up, flashed him a scowl and as Roland took off, laughing as he brandished the book in his hands, she chased after him, hot on his heels. Regina watched as Henry came out of the bushes and grabbed his younger sister by the waist, wrestling her to the ground. Both of her boys were adult men now, but that didn't change the fact that they liked to gang up on their younger sister and bug her to death.

"She's as spirited as you, though," Regina responded.

"I suppose."

The two of them watched suppressing their laughter as Raina wriggled away from Henry and crossed her arms over her chest in an indignant manner before Roland came up behind her and dangled the book tauntingly above her head. Quick as lightning, the princess whirled around and kicked her brother in the shin. As he groaned and went to hold his knees, she dove in and grabbed he book from his hands and both the King and the Queen were laughing when they watched Raina scolding her brothers. They couldn't hear her words but a lecture such as the one they were getting had been heard around the castle many times. Everyone knew it well.

"She especially looks like you when you're mad," Robin teased and threw his head back with laughter when Regina scowled at him. "See what I mean?"

"Take that back," Regina hissed playfully.

Robin raised his hands up in surrender. "Fine, I take it back."

"Good," Regina said and pulled Robin towards her so she could kiss him on the lips.

That's when the couple heard the three children below, all sharing their disgust with a loud ruckus of 'ew!'. Even Henry who was twenty-seven was joining in with his teenage siblings to express his distaste, even though Regina had caught him a few times with Jefferson's girl, Grace. The King and Queen pulled away from each other and smiled at their kids, who went about on their merry way after the display of affection had been cut off.

"I love you," Robin told Regina.

"I love you, too," she said and even though it had been fifteen years since their wedding, those three words brought a thrill to her and sent her heart racing. Robin never ceased to make her feel like a teenage girl again.


End file.
